


Then you should have put a ring on it

by ObsidianAbyss



Series: Yuri on Ice Stuff [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: F/F, F/M, High School AU, I want to build the other characters up, JJ and Yuuri are gonna be the most unlikely friends, M/M, Miscommunication, My Headcanons will come to life here, Rings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-08 18:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8856184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObsidianAbyss/pseuds/ObsidianAbyss
Summary: Recently, it’s become a trend for students to exchange rings with their significant others. Although Yuuri is very much single and uninterested, he wears a pretty ring that mostly goes unnoticed by his peers.That is until Victor Nikiforov starts wearing an exact copy of Yuuri’s ring and flaunts it around.Loosely based on Only the Ring Finger knows





	1. Let's Ring It

**Author's Note:**

> 4th Years: None as of yet  
> 3rd Years: Victor, Georgi, Chris, Anya, Yuuko, Takeshi  
> 2nd Years: Sara, Michele, Emil, Yuuri, Phichit, Seung Gil  
> 1st Years:, Leo, Guanghong, Mila, JJ, Otabek  
> Middle School  
> 8th Grade – Yuri, Minami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Rings dictate the world  
> 2\. Yuuri should pay attention to the world outside of dancing  
> 3\. Victor's sketchy  
> 4\. Sara and Phichit are probs the real twins around here

**Chapter 1**

Yuuri didn't really know who Victor Nikiforov was but having Takeshi drag him out to the farthest table in the cafeteria, away from Phichit and his friends, to talk about his love for Yuuko gave him the idea that the mysterious teen was most likely a very attractive opponent in his childhood friend's journey to winning the love of his life.

“Why does she even like that guy?” Takeshi groaned, hitting the table with his fist. Yuuri moved his food away from the third-year student accordingly. He was used to the other’s outbursts about Yuuko. “She’s never even talked to him!”

“But isn’t she part of the tech staff of the dance club he’s in?” Yuuri asked, immediately regretting his words as soon as they came out when he saw his friend wallow even more in his sorrow.

Takeshi rested his head in his hands, looking so pitiful that it made Yuuri feel sad despite eating his mother’s homemade food. “People like Victor Nikiforov shouldn’t exist! Perfection shouldn’t be tangible for us lowly humans!”

“I’m very sure Yu-chan likes you more than Victor.” Yuuri murmured consolingly, choosing to not pat the other’s back in fear of being hit. “She just needs someone to fawn over while she’s waiting for you to make a move.”

“But what if she isn’t?!” He cried out, picking something out of his pocket. Much to Yuuri’s surprise, it was a pair of matching rings. “I even bought these!”

“Really?” The bespectacled teen marveled at the older student’s audacity. Not to mention, those rings looked like they would match Takeshi and Yuuko. Because of that, he decided to stop himself from asking if the man kept the receipt. “Those rings are really popular now, huh.”

If Yuuri remembered correctly, close friends wore matching rings on their right ring finger, those who were single (and looking for a relationship) wore theirs on the right middle finger while couples wore rings on their left ring fingers.

“Takeshi, I’m very sure that once you show Yu-chan those rings, you’ll have her 100% attention.” He asserted but his words were ignored over the despairing wails of his companion.

“Let’s drink later.” Takeshi announced all of a sudden.

“No thanks.” Yuuri felt some sweat drop from his forehead. He definitely didn’t want to deal with a drunk Takeshi for the rest of the day. “I still have to help my parents at home.”

“But – ”

“And I’m pretty sure Yu-chan wouldn’t appreciate knowing that you got drunk over her.” Yuuri reasoned.

“Yeah? Well – What about you?!” Takeshi yelled out, pointing at him hysterically. If the younger student didn’t know better, he would have thought that the other was drunk already.

“W-w-what about me?” Yuuri stuttered, pointing at himself in confusion.

“You keep wearing that stupid ring but you’ve never even been in a relationship!” Takeshi remarked, not out of spite (at least not completely) because it was a very true observation.

“It’s not stupid.” The bespectacled teen blushed at the mention of his lack of a relationship. “You know I’m not really into those kind of stuff….”

“But you always wear that ring and it’s making people talk!” Takeshi continued, grabbing the other’s hand to observe the quirky little ring. It was silver with a black band in the middle. Nothing outrightly special. “You know that I could probably introduce you to someone if you want.”

“Ha, ha, er…. No thank you, senpai.” Yuuri laughed nervously, taking his hand away from the other’s. “I just really like this ring?”

“The ring, not a person?”

“No one comes to mind.” Yuuri frowned thoughtfully. “You know, on second thought, let’s have a drink.”

Yuuri would much rather prefer a drunk Takeshi over an intuitive Takeshi who kept asking questions about his sore spots.

* * *

“Yuuri!” Phichit waved enthusiastically as he caught sight of his best friend. “Come here! Come here! I have stuff to tell you!”

“Congrats on your ballet competition.” Leo hollered loudly.

Phichit’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah! And that too. I got lots of pictures for that one but I haven’t scanned through all of them. But you know, this is related to your ballet – _come here!_ ”

Guang-hong, who was playing a game on his phone, bowed in greeting to Yuuri who smiled back.

“Well, here I am.” The second year laughed, approaching his peers with a warm look. “What have you been wanting to tell me?”

“Lilia Baranovskaya tweeted about you and she’s super interested in taking you as her protégé!” Phichit chirped, showing him the woman’s account and a very detailed article studying Yuuri’s style and form.

Yuuri stared blankly at him, processing what the other was saying, before falling backwards.

Guang-hong, bless this poor boy, nearly dropped his phone trying to catch the taller male.

Leo laughed along and helped the Chinese teen balance their friend on his feet. “That wasn’t a very good way of breaking the news to him.”

“Lilia – Lilia Baranovskaya?” Yuuri’s eyes shined so brightly that Phichit sneakily had to take a picture. “The – the -the Prima – ”

“Okay, I’m going to stop you right there because I don’t want to go through another praise speech about that woman.” Phitchit teased, wrapping his arm around the other’s shoulder whilst pocketing his phone. “But yeah, you’ve got the attention of really famous people now thanks to her!”

“I’m going to text this to Minako- _sensei_ , _she’ll be thrilled_!” Yuuri felt horrified at the thought of having so many people suddenly being aware of him but the excitement overruled that. He even shifted into speaking Japanese because of it. “ _Lilia Baranovskaya also took her under her wing at some point and wow – ”_

“Calm down, Yuuri.” Guang-hong pinched the other’s cheek. “Your oriental blood is showing.”

“We're only halfway through high school so you got to keep this level of performance up!” Phichit cheered, just as pumped up.

“As if you’re any different,” Leo rolled his eyes. “Who’s knocking people out left and right with his mad martial arts skills?”

* * *

 Yuri Plisetsky was staring at the older male in disbelief. He tip toed to look closer and then walked far away to compare. The blond eventually returned with the same gaping expression.

“What?” Victor asked, smiling absent-mindedly. The familiar long grey hair – _gone._

“…You cut your hair.” Yuri gawked out, unashamed of gob smacked expression.

The third year student flipped through his now shorter hair, his bangs slightly covering the left side of his face. “I wanted to try something new! It looks cool, right?”

“Not at all.” Yuri grunted but the sounds of squeals surrounding them didn’t help his credibility. He sent a sharp glare towards the crowding students who were looking out the classroom to look at Victor. “I thought you said you liked your long hair.”

“True, but half of the fun was gone when you started to learn how to dodge my hair flip attacks.” Victor laughed at the fuming expression of his shorter teammate. “I also wanted to try a new look. My head feels so much lot lighter!”

“Seeing as your hair was the only thing that had weight on your head – ”

“Hush, Yuri!” Victor lightly ruffled the other’s hair. “Let me enjoy the new look before I start missing my long hair.”

Although, he would definitely be enjoying having some more free time to himself. He no longer had to spend almost half an hour styling his hair every day.

He looked over at a familiar building that had a ballet studio on the second floor.

“You know, Lilia keeps asking me to visit that place.” Victor recalled, staring at the sign. “The woman in charge of it was a professional dancer.”

“And I’m assuming this is why you take the long route to school every day?” Yuri grumbled, glaring at the older teen.

Victor shook his head. “Not at all, actually. I just remembered what she told me just recently.”

“Then why the hell are you wasting ten minutes of every morning taking this street?!”

Victor shrugged and started increasing the speed of his stride.

“ _Hey!”_ Yuri fumed, running after the third year student. “ _VICTOR!”_

* * *

“Yuuri, Yuuri, look!” Phichit was practically giggling out of his seat. “You look so cute in this costume! I think this one’s my favorite.”

“OH my goodness, Phichit! Please stop!” Yuuri was already _this_ close to banging his head on the table.

But that didn’t stop the Thailander from going further. “Look guys! Yuuri’s so cute in this!”

Yuuri turned bright red as some of his classmates crowded around the hyperactive teen with interest. They made cooing sounds at the pictures.

“Do you have his performance from last Saturday? I wasn’t able to go!”

“Yep! I even got a copy from the organizers in _HD!_ We can hook up my laptop to the TV and watch it – ”

“NOPE!” Yuuri yelled out all of a sudden, causing the others to laugh at his embarrassment.

“You’re so easy to tease, Yuuri.” Phichit smiled as he walked over to his friend to give him a hug.

The bespectacled teen huffed and moved his chair a bit farther to avoid the hug, causing Phichit to squawk at him indignantly.

“ _GUYS!_ ” Sara Crispino, whose brother was standing right along her with a disgruntled expression on his face, trumpeted as she ran into the room with bright eyes. Yuuri sighed in relief as the attention shifted away from him. “Victor Nikiforov cut his hair!”

Deafening silence enclosed the room and it felt a lot more sickening than the embarrassing pictures Phichit was sharing around. Heck, even the hyper South East Asian was shocked at the news.

Yuuri blamed his apathy on his ignorance on the school’s popularity food chain.

“How short?” One of his classmates asked.

“ _Really short._ ” Sara answered. She placed her hand just below her ear. “His hair is styled to the left so he has a side bang.”

“But he said he’d never cut his hair!” Someone yelled.

“Wait I got a picture of him – ” Sara winked, holding up her phone for the masses to see.

“Wow, he looks hot!”

“He’s always been hot!”

“You do realize this is Victor Nikiforov though – ”

Yuuri felt really out of the loop so he looked at Phichit who was watching the whole debacle with interest and asked, “This may sound really odd but… who’s Victor Nikiforov?”

He did know of the name but he had no clue about the person.

“Oh, you know…” Phichit started casually. “Victor’s just the school’s resident sweetheart, head of our back-to-back national winning dance crew, son of an internationally known coach and somewhat of a model. The basic characteristics of a heartthrob, as you can see.”

Yuuri blinked owlishly.

“My dear best friend, you’re so cute.” Phichit cooed, pinching his cheeks. “He’s that grey haired guy you might have seen whenever you walk here from your ballet studio. You’ll probably remember him for his formerly long hair.”

“Uh… oh!” Brown eyes brightened as he recalled. “I remember. Is he the same guy who has his face printed on the tarpaulin at the school’s entrance for winning at a figure-skating Junior Championships Competition?”

“Yes!” The Thailander nodded, giving the other a thumbs up. “And I think Yuuko from third year has a few pictures of him in her magazines too.”

“I see.” Yuuri was starting to understand the craze now. “Why are people so invested in him?”

“Other than the qualities I’ve mentioned earlier? Well, he’s a pretty alright guy and isn’t harsh when someone tries to ask him out on a date.” Phichit laughed, as if he's witness one of those confessions before. “I feel bad for everyone but the guy doesn’t stay in a relationship for too long if he actually does agree to be with someone.”

He looked around and saw a few of his classmates tearing up.

“Are they going to be alright?”

“Yeah, they’re just going through the shock. Wait till they’ve recovered, you’ll end up asking if Nikiforov’s going to be alright with everyone stalking him 24/7.” Phichit pointed at Sara who was waving a picture of Victor’s new hairdo on her phone.

And unsurprisingly, it’s trending.

* * *

Yuuri, who was bugged by his sister Mari on the news of Victor Nikiforov’s new hairdo, ends up Googling the guy. There, he discovers the man’s most recent performances and falls in love.

He remained silent and calculating as he watched each jump and each step sequence. He went through each video, tumblr post and analytical article about the figure skater’s performances.

_Wow._

He was suddenly very eager to get out of the house and practice himself.

Would the man be offended if Yuuri tried to apply his own take on _Stay Close to Me_? He wasn’t going to use it in any competition or anything. It was going to be personal, only for Yuuri’s eyes and maybe a few select people.

If Yuuri wasn’t so detached from the school gossip, he would have found out about Victor’s beautiful choreography sooner! The grace of an ice skater is certainly different from that of a ballet dancer’s but the talents of the two different sports could bring about a new dimension of art.

It took him three hours until he finally decided to download the video and bring those steps of ice onto the land.

Yuuri quickly got his copy of the keys to Minako’s studio and his laptop so he could review the video again.

Deep down, he questioned the sadness that reflected in Victor Nikiforov’s dance but he supposed, that was the point of the song. Yet, something was lingering and eating at him.

And he knew, dancing was going to answer his unvoiced questions.

* * *

“Good morni – YUURI what happened to your face?!” Phichit shrieked, surprising nearby seatmates at the outburst. The veterans, on the other hand, were used to his random spouts of screaming.

“I practiced all night.” Yuuri explained groggily as he dropped his stuff in front of his chair and ungracefully sat down. Before leaving the studio, he had seen how horrible his face looked (the eyebags, messy hair and paleness didn’t help) but Yuuri knew he would have looked worse if he had decided to stay at home.

“Why? Is there another competition coming up?”

“No, I just discovered Victor Nikiforov.” The sleepy teen yawned. The other boy snorted.

“Oh no, did I just add a fan to Nikiforov’s ever growing fanclub?” Phichit mock gasped.

“Phichit, his ice-skating’s so beautiful.” Yuuri stated, eyes gleaming similarly as to how he makes sonnets over Lilia Baranovskaya’s talents. “The choreography of his latest performance just put me in awe and I couldn’t stop watching – ”

‘ _Of course Yuuri would be thinking about the dance.’_ Phichit mentally smacked himself in the face before shrugging. ‘ _At least he isn’t salivating over the guys face.’_

“I tried recreating his _Stay Close to Me_ in ballet.” Yuuri mumbled.

“Really? Did you pull it off?” Phichit questioned, listening very attentively. He loved watching his best friend perform and if said best friend could put a gold winning performance from ice to land then _goddamn_ he was going to watch.

“I’ve barely scratched the surface because it’s a really complicated choreography. Something Victor obviously worked on for months…. But it think I’m doing a good job so far.” Yuuri looked proud of himself which wasn’t something Phichit saw a lot of these days. “I never realized how fun it was to do these types of things.”

“Will you show me?” Phichit asked – begged – the other.

Yuuri’s earlier confidence suddenly shriveled away and revealed the shy boy everyone knew. “I don’t know….”

“Come on, Yuuri! _Pleease….”_ The Thailander pleaded. “You can’t just tell me that you’ve come up with a performance you so obviously like and not show it to me!”

“But _you_ might not like it…”

“Yuuri, you’re enjoying your current little project, right?” The other nodded. “Then I’ll definitely like it. I really like all of your performances anyway!”

“That’s because it’s your duty as my best friend.” Yuuri huffed.

“Yes and it’s also because you dance beautifully.” Phichit stated sincerely. “I hope you realize that too.”

* * *

Yuuri smiled to himself as he entered the stage and checked the theater once more to see if anyone was around. He got a copy of the keys from Yuuko who has her own because of her status as a manager for the dance team of the school.

At times, they would need to practice on stage but according to her, nobody’s booked the theater for the day because most were watching the basketball play-offs at the gym.

Unplugging his earphones from his Ipod, he placed the device on the stage floor. He already had it on full volume.

Minako’s studio was being used for the upcoming recital so he had to find another place to practice. He was just about done but he wanted to be sure before he could show it Phichit.

Just because the choreography itself is done doesn’t mean he has 100% mastery of the piece. Maybe he could use it for the recital? He was much more invested in _Stay Close to Me_ rather than his other recital song.

But he probably won’t because he would feel too guilty about it. It wasn’t Yuuri’s song after all, it was Victor’s.

He bent down to start the music before quickly moving to the center of the stage in the starting position.

‘ _I wonder,’_ He thought, as the melody began and his body started moving on its own. ‘ _If Victor would like it.’_

* * *

“It’s done.” Yuuri announced, flopping on the seat beside Phichit’s. They were both currently cheering on Michele who looked like he was ready to shove Emil’s face on the floor.

“Really?” Phichit brightened, turning his attention away from the Italian. “Show me!”

“Not now.” Yuuri laughed.

“How about after classes? I can drop by the ballet studio since I’ve got nothing to do at home!”

“It’s still being used to prepare for the upcoming recital.” Yuuri pointed out.

The Thailander frowned, deep in thought. “Hm but - Oh… Wait! What about the music room?”

“ _Go Mickey!!!”_ Sara yelled, standing on the bench as Michele managed to spike the volleyball to score a point. Her friends were immediately trying to calm her down and remind her of her promise not to openly support her twin.

“And she wonders why their overdependence hasn’t been cured yet.” The two looked over to see Seung Gil shaking his head at their ridiculousness.

“Anyway,” Phichit said, turning back to his four-eyed friend. “I know you practice at the theater because it’s just really awesome but our local Society of Music has adopted the place as its temporary clubroom until next week’s competition is done. So right now, the music room’s empty and no one’s using it!”

“Um,” Yuuri didn’t like the idea because the music room was awfully close to the third year classrooms. He didn’t want to risk having anyone see it. “But…”

“C’mon, Yuuri! I can’t wait till next week.” When Phichit saw that Yuuri didn’t look convinced, he immediately changed tactics.

“Do you know that new café across Yutopia….”

* * *

Yuuri narrowed his eyes at the mirror, having taken off his glasses and ring to wash his dirty face. For some reason or another, Michele also seemed to have it out for Yuuri (but not to the same extent as he did with Emil).

It was mostly Sara’s fault for encouraging for their mock finals volleyball game during PE class but at least she was nice enough to buy him the largest scoop of ice cream after her twin brother had intentionally aimed a volleyball at his face.

He lucked out when it only hit the side of his cheek but it still hurt.

Because Phichit loved him and apparently had brought Seung Gil into the loop, both had managed to make the rest of the day a living hell for the poor Italian. Yuuri had to drag them both away from Michele when they didn’t look like they were letting up.

Yuuri moved his face to the side to inspect the mark on his face. It looked like a bruise but it wasn’t as dark as he would have expected it.

He was about to wipe his face with the sleeve of his shirt when he felt a hand tap his shoulder. The Japanese teen turned to the side and saw a hand offering a handkerchief to him.

“Are you alright?” The blurred figure asked.

“Oh, uh…” Yuuri stumbled to say something. “Yes, I’m fine.”

He accepted the offered cloth and wiped it gently around his sore face.

“Do you want me to walk you to the infirmary? You might need some ice – ”

Yuuri smiled gratefully at the stranger. “It’s alright! It’s not as painful as it looks.”

The figure paused for some reason. If Yuuri wasn’t so distracted by the swelling pain on his cheek and the fact he could see in three dimensions without his glasses, he would have noticed the other’s staring.

“Thank you!” He put his glasses on to get a good look at the other.

He froze.

It was  _Victor Nikiforov._

“No problem!” Victor replied, taking the handkerchief back and pocketing it. “Try to use your hands to hit the ball instead of your face next time!”

Yuuri felt his soul leave his body.

_He saw the game?_

“You’re too cute to be ruined by a volleyball.” The older student added as an afterthought. Yuuri couldn't respond or even ask why the older student was in the second year comfort room. “Well then, I’ll see you around!”

Victor walked out of the restroom, leaving an absolutely embarrassed Yuuri Katsuki behind.

* * *

“Phichit!” The sophomore cried out as he rushed to the music room.

“Oh, Yuuri! I almost thought you ditched me here.” He pouted but dropped his expression when he saw the bright red face of his best friend. “What’s up with you?”

“E-e-e-eh….” Yuuri looked down, his shoulders shaking. He tried to regain his composure. “N-nothing! I just accidentally ran into someone.”

“Yuuri, I’ll never be able to understand how you go from the graceful dancer on stage to the boy who trips over air.” The other said fondly. “Well, whatever! Hurry and show me your dance. I’m cleaners but I managed to escape Seung Gil by promising to be back in five minutes.”

“But…”

“Are you nervous again?”

“No, it’s just…” He bit his lip as he raised his hand up. “My ring is kind of tight on my finger…”

“Did you gain weight or something on the way here?” Phichit joked as he came closer to inspect the ring. Yuuri had taken it off his right middle finger because it felt uncomfortable around it. “Well, it’s the same ring you wear all the time so I don’t see what the problem is.”  

“I really worked hard to lose that weight.” Yuuri huffed as he stared at his beloved ring.

“Try wearing it on another finger.” Phichit suggested.

The Japanese teen followed and found that the ring fitted his right ring finger just right.

“There! See? Just listen to me and you’ll live.” His classmate grinned as he hurried to take a seat. “Now, show me what you’ve got!”

“I’m not wearing my ballet shoes so I might be a little awkward.” Yuuri warned as he set up his phone and gave it to his friend, feeling a bit conscious of the ring on his finger. It felt foreign but not obtrusive.

Phichit waved his hand. “It’s fine, it’s fine! I just want to see what you’ve done so far anyway.”

Yuuri nodded, getting into position so that he could finally shake his nerves off.

“Alright, playing.” Phichit declared as the music started playing.

* * *

“Hello, is Yuuri Katsuki here?” Victor asked as he ran into the 2nd year’s classroom looking like he had been through the whole campus. His face was slightly sweaty and his hair was raggedly messy but his attractiveness still shone through.

Seung Gil, the only cleaner who was in the classroom because the others were getting the cleaning supplies, stared at the popular student expressionlessly.

“He’s at the music room with Phichit.” The Korean deadpanned.

Victor’s worried expression lightened tremendously. The music room was just a stair case away. “Thank you!”

Before the older student turned away, Seung Gil added, “If you see Phichit Chulanont, tell him to get his ass back at the classroom.”

“Will do, will do!” The Russian chirped as he rushed through the halls for Yuuri.

A few moments after the junior had appeared, Sara stepped into the room.

“Okay, so the others are looking for new rags because the ones at the supplies closet were eaten by rats and – SEUNG GIL WAS THAT VICTOR JUST NOW?” She shrieked when she caught sight of the silver hair. “Was he here in this classroom? Why? _Seung – ”_

The stoic teen sighed to himself and continued erasing the board as his classmate started rambling about the Russian.

Hm, he’d have to asked Phichit why the older student was wearing a ring similar to Yuuri’s.

* * *

Yuuri was regretting ever choosing to dance in his school shoes. It would have been fine had he just gone through the motions of the dance but he had suddenly decided to go all out. His hands and feet didn’t even falter to extend further than what it should have been –

“Yuuri, that was beautiful!” Phichit applauded with admiration shining in his eyes. “You – you were so flowy and – and I can’t even describe it! I almost thought you were going to start flying with how smooth your jumps were!”

Said dancer couldn’t even catch his breath to even say thank you. He could still feel the pain of his unbandaged blisters echoing.

“I can’t believe you made me promise to not video it!” Phichit continued as he jumped around Yuuri in excitement. The energy and power from his friend’s performance had circulated to him and he didn’t know what to do with it. “I want to replay it again and again! Heck, I’ll make it my live wallpaper – ”

“That’s too much.” Yuuri panted, blushing from the exhaustion and praise. “It wasn’t that good…”

“Yuuri, I swear, it was like _you_ were dancing on ice.” He squealed, waving his arms frantically. “The emotion behind it was amazing as well. I thought I was melting and burning at the same time while I watching you!”

“That’s an accurate description for it.” A new voice agreed.

The two sophomores halted in their actions and slowly turned to face a familiar silver haired junior who was waving at them with an enlightened expression.

Yuuri, in that moment of great disturbance, couldn’t even appreciate the rare cases of Phichit being speechless.

“You’re Phichit, right?” Victor asked, gesturing at the Thailander who nodded mutely. “Your classmate wants you back in the classroom to clean.”

“Oh, right!” Phichit remembered, reverting back to his smiley self. Although, there was a bit of apprehension in his face as he turned to Yuuri.

“You can go back.” Yuuri beckoned in what he hoped was in an encouraging way but his voice sounded like he was in distress. “It’s fine.”

“Alright.” The other replied. ‘ _I’ll text you.’_ His eyes relayed before he zoomed out of the room in a hurry. It was then that Yuuri remembered how much of a ticking time bomb Seung Gil could be if certain lines such as skipping cleaning duty were crossed.

Yuuri looked at Victor who was gazing at him musingly. It made him feel unsure of himself.

“You’re a good dancer.” The older teen praised.

“Th-thank you!” Yuuri stuttered, bowing. “Well, um, I’m sorry!”

Great, he sounded like an idiot. Apologizing right after hearing a compliment.

“Sorry?” Victor looked confused. “Sorry for what?”

“I danced your routine without asking you and well um, you weren’t supposed to find out.” Yuuri looked down in embarrassment. He could feel the heat of his cheeks and could only imagine how similar his face must look with a tomato.

“Well, I’m glad I did.” Victor beamed, his face looking flushed. “You performed it better than I ever could.”

“Oh no, no, no!” The shorter male argued, waving his hands frantically. “That’s not true at all! I messed up at the middle of the song when I couldn’t hold the position – ”

“You’re wearing school shoes.” Victor observed.

“And the routine was originally designed to be skated – ”

“Which you’ve changed without completely altering the key components that I’ve performed.”

“I was a mess – ”

“A beautiful mess that I would love to see fall apart again.” Victor finished softly. Endearingly.

Yuuri paused. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

There was an indescribable silence between the two students.

“I actually came here to return this.” The junior raised an item up.

Yuuri’s eyes zeroed in at the familiar ring in the teen’s hand.

“That looks like my ring.” He gathered, staring at the silver piece of jewelry.

“This is your ring.” Victor confirmed as he gazed at it dramatically. He looked at the other’s hand with an unreadable expression. “And I believe that you’re wearing _my_ ring.”

“Oh,” The Japanese student stared at the one he was wearing in amazement and a bit of fear at the strange tone the other used as he referred to the ring. “No wonder it only fits my right ring finger all of a sudden.”

Victor looked pleasantly surprised. “The same for me, actually. I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

“Eh?” Yuuri blushed, looking down a bit guiltily. He should have realized that it wasn’t his ring. If he had paid more attention, he would have noticed how _new_ it looked compared to the his own.

“The scratches on this ring,” Victor noted, looking around the piece of jewelry delicately. “Look rather aged. Have you had this ring for a long time?”

Yuuri nodded. “Yeah. I almost never go anywhere without that ring. It’s kind of embarrassing I just assumed that I gained weight just because the ring felt tight around my finger.”

“It’s an honest mistake.” Victor assured. “Did you ever think that someone else would have a ring like yours?”

“N-no.” He replied, staring at Victor’s peculiar ring. It was an exact replica and even he couldn’t tell the difference without taking note of personal details such as scratches.

“Well,” Victor walked closer to the other boy with a winning smile. “I’m glad I surprised you. You really shocked me with that dance earlier.”

The shorter teen bit his lips at the reminder. He didn’t notice the older teen frowning at his actions.

“Although, you tip over just a little bit whenever you land.” Victor commented. “You might have to work on that. Are you not used to carrying your weight?”

Yuuri stiffened. His weight was a work in progress but he was improving! He had just gained a little more weight between his recent competition and the one before it. “Er…”

“But that’s alright,” Victor said, walking closer to Yuuri and all of sudden, there wasn’t enough breathing space for the ballet dancer. He tried backing away but his head suddenly made contact with the piano and Victor’s arms were locking him in position.

“Will you dance for me again?” The junior purred, bring his face closer by bending lower to see eye to eye with the ballerina. “I would really like to see the finished product.”

Yuuri burst.

“ _EEEEEEKKK!!!”_ He pushed the taller student away and ran out of the music room.

Victor stood up awkwardly and stared at the ring he still hadn’t returned. He smirked to himself as he wore the ring again _._

Well, at least he had a reason to stop by the sophomore’s classroom again.

* * *

_The next morning_

 “Hey, Victor?” The third year looked up to see Mila, a freshman, walk to him with speculation glittering in her eyes. “Is that what I think it is?”

Georgi, who was previously chatting with somebody on his phone, immediately turned his attention to the grey-haired teen. “Actually… I’ve been meaning to ask that as well.”

“It is!” Victor grinned, raising his hand up to show _a ring_ on his right ring finger. It was simple and so uncharacteristically not Victor but it somehow complemented the eccentric nature of the boy who owned it. “It’s very pretty, isn’t it?”

“ _Why?_ ” Mila questioned, staring at the piece of jewelry as if it was of alien descent. It might as well be if it was Victor who was wearing it.

“It was a gift to me from a good friend so why shouldn’t I wear it?” Victor chattered. “And I like it.”

“Chris is going to bug you all day.” Georgi warned after saying a quick goodbye on the phone.

Blue eyes sparkled with mirth. “I’m sure.”

* * *

“Phichit, he has my ring!” Yuuri whined, hiding his face in his best friend’s chest as the Thailander patted his back soothingly.

“It’s alright, Yuuri. I’m sure you can ask for it back!” Phichit grinned consolingly, hugging the jittery boy. “Victor seems like a pretty nice guy.”

“But I pushed him away!”

“I’m sure he knows that you’re a very shy boy who only blooms when dancing. If he wanted to be forward with you, he should have joined you in the dance instead of just standing by.”

“ _PHICHIT!”_ Yuuri wailed, finally looking up to show his teary eyes. “I need to give his ring back!”

“That’s actually quite interesting, you know? Why would he – “

The door banged open and revealed Victor Nikiforov with his group of friendly maniacs behind him, looking at him curiously.

“Good morning, Yuuri!” The Russian greeted, entering the classroom without a care in the world to approach the stuttering Japanese. “I’m here to give you back your ring!”

“Eh – ” Victor took Yuuri’s right hand, took back his ring quickly but took his sweet time placing the shorter boy’s actual ring back.

Phichit unconsciously brought his phone out and was snapping photos left and right.

“You know, you should have just worn my ring on your left ring finger.” Victor pouted.

“I don’t think there is any need for that!” Yuuri exclaimed, happy to have his ring back but also terrified at seeing the famous athlete in his classroom. Victor hasn’t even let go off his hand yet! “Thank you so much for returning my ring and I’m so sorry for the mishap – ”

“I don’t forgive you.” Victor interjected, the careless expression wiping off his face in a blink of an eye.

Yuuri paled, brown eyes widening. “What?”

“I’ll only forgive you if you perform _Stay Close to Me_ in your upcoming recital.” The junior announced seriously. The class who was muttering and pointing at them paled in the background as he held the other’s hand. It was almost as if he was going to kiss it. “I’ll personally correct your stances and dance moves myself. So until then, I’ll be your coach!”

“ _What._ ”

“Think of these rings as a reminder of our bond.” Victor lamented solemnly, finally stepping away from the flabbergasted sophomore. “Let’s meet again later at that ballet studio of yours! Or maybe at lunch – ”

_RIIING!!!_

“Woops, there’s the bell. See you later ~ “Victor waved, running out of the classroom with his friends following after with disgruntled expressions.

Everyone turned to Yuuri who was staring at his ring with an open mouth.

“Hey, Sara!” Phichit called out, waving his phone around. “Which pictures should I post?”

**End of Chapter 1**


	2. Ring-a-ding-ding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Yuuri defeats bullying with sass  
> 2\. Seung Gil cares  
> 3\. Yuri ain't gonna confess  
> 4\. Victor's sketchy  
> 5\. Victor's fanclub is violent and should not be approached unless you have the grace of Yuuri Katsuki

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went over 9k words with this chapter. Last time I checked, I was only at 7k sorry.  
> I was going to split this chapter but then i realized just how long It's been since the first chapter so here's my late Christmas gift to you lot.

  **Chapter 2**

There was a collective silence and unsettling peace that was shared by the class at the start of homeroom period. 

Unsurprisingly, that all changed once the teacher left.

“Yuuri,” Sara slammed her hand on the shocked boy’s table with a terrifying glint in her eyes. She cut to the chase. “Seeing as you’re wearing the same ring as Victor – Are you two _together?_ ”

“Not at all!” Yuuri shook his head so quickly that many were wondering if it would pop off. “We just happened to switch rings by mistake!”

“Oh, really?” Sara raised a fine brow at him, lifting his hand up – the same one Victor had held moments ago. “Then where did you buy this ring?”

Yuuri’s eyes narrowed, trying to recall. “I... don’t remember actually.”

“ _WHAT?!I”_ It wasn’t Sara who reacted but the rest of the class (the ones who were fans of Victor Nikiforov anyway) who yelled. Yuuri hadn’t realized that there were many people who were listening to their discussion.

‘ _Well duh, Yuuri.’_ Phichit mentally told him through when they shared eye contact. ‘ _If it’s about him, it’s a big deal.’_

He wanted to bury himself into the ground and disappear.

“Really?” Sara pouted in disappointment, gazing at the ring with interest. “Are you sure you’re just not keeping it to yourself?”

Michele looked torn. He didn’t know if he was going to wring Yuuri’s neck for making his sister unhappy or pat him in the back for not supporting his twin’s crush on the junior student.

“I p-p-promise!” Yuuri stammered, taking his hand out of the girl’s grip. “I bought this at the end of our elementary graduation with my mom at some bazaar! How am I supposed to remember which stall I bought it from?”

“You meanie!” Someone yelled out, causing Yuuri to flinch.

“You just don’t want to share Victor!”

“I swear – ” Yuuri protested, waving his hands. He felt uneasy with at the glowering looks some of his classmates were sending him. “We’re just acquaintances!”

“Then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if we borrowed your ring to have it copied...” Someone else suggested, reaching out for the Japanese boy’s ring but Yuuri brought his arm close to his chest.

“No way.” He frowned, eyeing them all as he covered the silver band protectively with his other hand.

“Come on, Yuuri!”

“You can’t hog him all to yourself!”

It went on for a while.

* * *

Yuri Plisetsky was pissed.

“You don’t have time to help some copycat dance your routine!” He fumed at the older teen who was simply giggling into the air looking disgustingly _lovesick_. “The National Junior Championships for Hip Hop is less than a month away!”

Victor had the gall to laugh at his concerns. “That’s a really long time, you know? If I remember correctly, it’s going to take place a few days after Yuuri’s recital!”

“There you go again with that _pig._ ” Yuri hissed. He would deny to his very grave that even he thought that his voice sounded like that of a feline's.  “What’s so interesting about him anyway? He dances ballet which has almost absolutely nothing to do with you!”

“Of course, it does! He’s dancing to my routine after all.” Victor’s lips quirked up as he thought about the Japanese dancer. “If anything, I should be there with him when it’s done! The preliminary stages are just exquisite! I want to be present when he finishes it.”

“It took you months to master the routine! And you think some noob can pull it off?” Yuri snorted at the thought. “You should focus on things that are more feasible.”

“I’ve already choreographed your routine, haven’t I? Also, you have Coach Yakov to guide you through the moves. Unless you just don’t think that you and your crew can pull it off without my guidance.” Victor lips turned into that gleefully sarcastic and spiteful smile that managed to look welcoming to onlookers but menacing to its receiver.

Yuri growled, glaring at the taller male. “You overconfident bastard! I’ll show you! I’m going to find that stupid piglet and show just how much time you’re wasting over some jerk who wears the same ring as you!”

The 8th grader stomped away and if one looked close enough, it was as if steam was being released from the young boy’s head.

“You really riled him up, Victor.” Mila drawled, walking out of the room with books in hand. “Although I do have to agree with him, how are you going to balance your schedule?”

Victor shrugged. “He’s been too complacent since last year’s win. And besides, our practice has dulled since the Senior Division’s already done. He’s probably more annoyed at the fact that Georgi’s probably going to take over when I’m not around.”

Mila chuckled. “He’s had a lot of free time ever since he and Anya broke up.”

“Ah, Anya…” Victor refrained from mentioning her around Georgi because he had been the reason for their unfortunate split. Unbeknownst to his romantic of a friend, the girl had just been using him to get close to Victor.

He had seen right through her ever since she first appeared.

If anyone was the witch, it certainly wasn’t Georgi. Sadly, they couldn’t seem to knock some sense into him.

“Anya’s still being a bitch but she keeps her distance now.” Mila stated. She’s one to keep up with other people’s lives. “Yuri, for all his complaints about Georgi, is extra vindictive when she’s around. Even if she found herself a new boyfriend.”

“Let’s see how long that lasts.” Victor mused. It depends on how much of a dunce the new boyfriend was. “On an entirely different matter, Mila, exactly how popular are matching rings now?”

“How popular? Goodness, Victor! They’re sold at every festival, fair and store now.” Mila enlightened. “It’s really hard to find a completely original pair of rings without spending too much money.”

“Georgi bought a pair, didn’t he?”

“He’s still wearing it even when after Anya threw hers at him after their break up.” The red head complained, shaking her head. “Yes, it is a big deal. Mostly for couples anyway. I think others share matching rings between friends but it isn’t as common.”

Victor stared at his ring. He had received many gawks and stares when the piece of jewelry had been noticed. “Is that so?”

“You broke a lot of hearts wearing that thing.” Mila pointed out. “And you’re not one to do things like that even if you’re a bit nuts. Is it that significant to you?”

“Yes,” Victor murmured, vague as ever.

* * *

“Yuuri,” Phichit whispered, watching his friend hide within his hoodie. “What are you doing?”

“Hiding from Victor.” He answered, looking around the cafeteria for the silver haired nut job. “I’ll get my food as quickly as possible then sneak out – ”

“Yuuri! Don’t tell me you’re still traumatized over the class!” Phichit clicked his tongue, pulled Yuuri’s hood off and dragged him to the cafeteria line.

“It wasn’t even just the class, Phichit! I’ve been chased, grabbed and hissed at by the whole student body.” Yuuri cried, staring at his surroundings as if someone was going to come out and bite him. “They think I’m in love with Victor!”

“Well, they just have to realize you’re in love with his dance moves, not the guy himself.” Phichit paused, as if noticing something wrong in his statement. “Actually, that might be wrong. You have all his routines downloaded in your laptop – ”

“Phichit!”

“His musical scores in your iPod – ”

“Oh my gosh, Phichit!”

“And I’m pretty sure you’re already trading posters with Yuuko.” He finished with a victorious grin on his face. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of! You’ve been converted.”

“But I’d very much rather do it in peace!” Yuuri whispered to the other.

“That, my good friend, would be terribly _boring._ ” Phichit declared, patting the other’s back consolingly. “You’ve got to reach out if you really want to improve! Who knows? You might learn a thing or two from dancing with Victor!”

Yuuri’s face contorted into that expression he’d always wear whenever he was felt a mix of embarrassment, exasperation and a complete loss of words.

It was meme worthy but Phichit refrained from mocking his pitiful friend.

“Yuuri, Phichit!” Guang-hong was waving at them from a table nearby. “Hurry up, already! Lunch ends in less than half an hour.”

The two immediately got their trays and food, paid and sat with the two other boys.

“Is it true, Yuuri?” Leo piped up after having gobbled through his mashed potatoes before moving on to his fries. The freshman was obsessed with potatoes. “Are you dating Victor Nikiforov?”

Yuuri nearly spitted his drink out. “No!”

“Are you a stalker?” Guang-hong asked curiously. Although he already knew the answer to the question, he just wanted to mess with his upperclassman a little. “My class has been buzzing around on whether or not you’re like a trained spy who was able to steal his ring.”

“No and I’ve had this ring longer than he has. If anything, he’s the spy.” Yuuri huffed, playing with his salad. “Any more questions?”

“Yeah! Is he really going to coach you on dancing?”

“He seems rather adamant to do so.” Yuuri said, feeling unbelievably uncomfortable. “Can we talk about something else?”

Guang-hong was about to protest but Phichit sent him a look that made him pout in silence.

“You guys are going to watch our auditions right?” Leo grinned, excited.

“Of course!” Phichit exclaimed, winking. “You and Guang-hong are doing it for this year’s Battle of the Bands and I definitely don’t want to miss it!”

“Thanks! We were pretty lucky to get a few more members too.” Guang-hong added with that flushed grin of his. “We got a bass player and a drummer now.”

“Where will it be held?” Yuuri inquired.

“At the open stadium near Central Gym!” The American said. “Everyone’s welcome to watch obviously so the competition’s tough if we get in.”

“When we get in.” Guang-hong corrected. Leo nodded at him.

“Isn’t JJ’s band auditioning too?” Phichit pointed at the rowdy group of first years a few tables away.

“Yeah… Although JJ can be a bit ridiculous, he’s real competition,” Leo sighed, pinching his nose. “Whenever he’s not singing about himself but even then, the girls seem to like it.”

“I don’t get the charm.” Guang-hong rolled his eyes.

Phichit’s eyes gleamed. “No worries! You’ll definitely get in and win! No doubt about it!”

“Right.” Yuuri nodded encouragingly. He nibbled on his broccoli. “You’ve been practicing since last year, right? I really like those original songs you’ve composed, Leo.”

“And Guang-hong’s got mad skills on the keyboard! How long have you been playing? Since you were three?”

“Four.” The Chinese muttered.

“You’re all music geniuses!” Phichit gave them a thumbs up. “That _Battle of the Bands_ is a sure win for you guys!”

“Ha! Wait just a moment,” A boisterous voice declared. Everyone in the cafeteria turned to Jean-Jacques – JJ for short – who was standing on the cafeteria table, pointing at Yuuri and his friends. “If there’s anyone who’s going to win the Battle of the Bands, it’s _my_ band!”

Cheers and whispers spread like wildfire in the eating grounds.

Yuuri was glad that at least for that moment, people forgot about the ring incident. Although, it was at his friend’s expense.

“That’s right!” Isabella Yang, JJ’s girlfriend, winked at the crowd who cooed at her as she took her place beside JJ. They both shared gold rings that seemed to flash under the lights of the cafeteria.

“That’s what you think, JJ!” Leo grinned, not one to back down. Guang-hong nodded with determination. They both stood up on the tables, causing Yuuri to take his tray back in shock. “This year’s trophy is going to have our band’s name on it!”

Phichit looked too happy at the turn of events. He was catching everything on his camera and even got a neighboring student to take pictures.

The tension was high for some reason.

“Sit down,” Yuuri told the two freshmen as softly as he could. Why were the younger batches so rowdy now? “You’re causing a ruckus!”

“Do you have to be so loud?” Seung Gil glowered from his table at the left of JJ’s. He sometimes sat with Yuuri and Phichit but it seems that the Sara had dragged him to her table. Emil and Michele were there as well. “The cafeteria’s for eating, not for challenging people.”

“Don’t be so gloomy about this,” A tall blond scolded. Others turned to see a familiar third year with his signature pouty expression. “This may actually be fun, right Victor?”

‘ _Victor.’_ Yuuri blinked and turned to see that the silver haired teen was standing beside the blond with a tray in hand and an amused expression.

“You’re right, Chris! These types of things encourage people to work harder.” Victor agreed coolly. His honorable stature was admired by the surrounding students until he completely paused to gaze at Yuuri’s table.

At Yuuri in particular.

His initially stoic like appearance suddenly turned to that of a puppy’s. “ _Yuuri!”_

“And that’s my cue to leave.” Yuuri shoved a spoonful of lettuce and tomato into his mouth before he sprinted out of the cafeteria with his dirty tray and amazingly dumped it without breaking any of the plates.

* * *

In his rush to get out of the cafeteria, Yuuri bumped into a younger student at the exit.

“Sorry!” He said quickly, not taking the time to look at the shorter male. He steadied the other and bowed apologetically before he continued his escape.

But he was stopped by the sudden force of the stranger’s harsh pull. He could do nothing but stare face to face with a furious expression.

“Yuuri Katsuki…” The blond glared with such intensity that Yuuri couldn’t help but quiver under the gaze. “What the hell’s so special about you?”

For a short moment of distraction, he was about to scold the other for his use of profanity but was yanked towards a nearby lavatory.

Yuuri was no pushover so he twisted his body out of the other’s tight grip and placed a good amount of distance between them.

“Who-who – ” He hated his stutter so much right now. “Who are you?”

“Yuri Plisetsky.” The smaller boy snarled. The sophomore didn’t know why but he was reminded of a hissing cat all of a sudden. “And there’s not enough room for two Yuris in this school so just drop out already.”

Yuuri stared at the other in shock.

“What?”

“Just because you and that bastard Victor share the same fucking ring doesn’t mean you’re suddenly a good dancer!” The blond spat out venomously. “He’ll leave once he’s done fooling around.”

Oh. He got into trouble because of Victor again. Great.

He looked down to hide his frown. Well, if he couldn’t convince people that he wasn’t obsessed with Victor, he might as well make it look like he wanted to get rid of him.

“Really?” Yuuri’s previously frightened expression lit up. “Are you serious?”

“What?” Yuri stopped and stared at him in bewilderment.

“About Victor! He’ll stop bothering me once I just finish his routine, right?” The older student suddenly smiled, feeling elated for the first time in hours. “You’re right, I’m not that good of a dancer, at least not enough to keep someone like Victor interested.”

“ _What?”_

“Thank you, Yuri. This makes me feel a lot better.” The Japanese student smiled warmly and shook the other’s hand. “I’ll just have to work harder to finish the routine and everything will be back to normal!”

He bowed gratefully and left the other puzzled and confused as to what had just happened.

Yuuri gave a sigh of relief when he saw that the other Yuri had chosen not to follow him.

When he returned to the classroom, he was all alone and found something disturbing written on his table.

**USELESS PIECE OF SHIT**

He stared blankly at the words before looking around the classroom.

There was no one there.

He sighed to himself and took out his handkerchief and rubbing alcohol from his bag to wipe it off.

He didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. Once the recital was over, this whole thing will be forgotten as well.

* * *

Unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough to escape Victor’s clutches at dismissal.

“Yuuri,” Victor whined, jumping at the shorter boy from behind. “Why did you run?”

“…Because of you.” He answered, shying away. He checked around again in case anyone was giving them a dirty look.

The junior huffed indignantly. “That’s not a good reason at all! If you were to run, it should be towards me!”

“But away is better,” Yuuri muttered, trying to get more space between them. “Will you be accompanying me to the ballet studio?”

“I could but I was thinking,” Victor finally relented and let the ballet dancer go. “Of bringing you to a skating rink to perform the actual routine for you before we do anything else.”

All previous protests that were being mentally prepared were thrown out the window.

“ _Really?”_ Yuuri’s eyes sparkled, leaping towards the junior. This was the best thing he’s heard all day. “That would be wonderful! I’ve already watched you online a number of times but I’m sure it’s even better in person.”

Initially shocked by the other’s positive reaction, Victor jumped at the opportunity presented. “I can bring you all the way to my training rink but it may be too far. I believe there’s another nearby?”

“Oh,” The boy nodded. “Yes, it’s just a twenty-minute walk from here. Do you mind – ”

“Not at all!” Victor smiled, grabbing the other’s hand to lead him away from the school entrance. “Let’s stop by the convenience store first for a snack.”

They walked with fellow students who were rushing to the store as well. With quickness only veteran buyers would have, Yuuri manipulated the crowd and managed to squeeze himself and Victor in.

“What would you like?” He asked as he bent over to get a melon flavored popsicle.

“I want the strawberry flavored one of what you have.” Victor requested. “I’ll just get some water too.”

They met again at the line. Unsurprisingly, many students had allowed the popular athlete to cut in line.

“Yuuri,” The Russian began as he took all the items from the shorter dancer. “Could you go to that tall pale guy who looks like he’s about to cry?”

“Hm?” He immediately spotted the source of gloom immediately. “Um, why?”

“Could you tell him that I’ll be leaving the middle schoolers to him for the rest of the week?” Victor pleaded. “If I go up to him instead, he’ll probably cry on my shoulder about Anya again. His name’s Georgi by the way.”

“Okay…” Yuuri shot him a look but followed anyway. He maneuvered himself around the crowds of people in the store again and eventually reached his target.

“You’re Georgi?” He asked to start the conversation. He wasn’t one for talking to new people and he would avoid doing so if he had a choice but the older teen looked so sad that it was hard for him to not empathize.

“Yes.” Georgi sniffled. Unconsciously, Yuuri took a packet of tissue from his pocket and offered it to the other. The taller male accepted it gratefully and blew into it.

Before the oncoming breakdown, Yuuri cut in. “Victor said that you’d be handling the Junior dancers for the rest of the week.”

“Oh?” That immediately steered Georgi out of his doom and gloom. “That’s fine then. It’ll be a good distraction for me.”

Yuuri gave him a kind smile. “Do you need anything else?”

“Nothing, nothing!” Georgi laughed off, feeling embarrassed all of a sudden. “Thank you for the tissue too… um, Yuuri right?”

He nodded and tried not to think about how the other knew his name. “Yes. It was nice talking to you.”

The Japanese returned to Victor’s side just as he was about to pay.

“Let me – ” Yuuri said but was stopped by the sudden hand that pinched his cheek.

“No need! I already paid anyway.” Victor grinned, giving the other his popsicle. “No need to pay me back!”

“Um,” Yuuri blinked in surprise and reluctantly accepted the offered treat. “You didn’t have to…”

“But I wanted to!” Victor steered the other towards the exit. “If I’m going to help you dance my routine, I need to get to know you more.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s start with lovers! Any current ones?” Victor asked a bit too curiously. As if he was really interested in knowing.

“N-none.”

“Past lovers?”

“No comment!”

“Hm,” The Russian frowned and pointed at himself. “Well, I can tell you a lot about my past ones! My first girlfriend – ”

“I don’t need to know!” Yuuri shouted. He bit on the top of his popsicle in mortification.

Victor chuckled and ruffled the other’s hair with his free hand. “You’re so cute!”

“Eat your ice cream.” Yuuri flushed, turning away from the other with a red face.

* * *

“ _Huh?”_ Yuri looked like he was going to bite someone’s head off. “Why are _you_ here?”

JJ grinned and waved at the Junior Crew. “You’re using the theater until six, right? My club’s just setting up a bit.”

“What do you mean we only have until six?!” Yuri growled and looked at Georgi who was crying over Anya’s newest picture. Mila, that unhelpful hag, was fueling his sadness. “HEY! Georgi, what the fuck?!”

“The Society of Music has an upcoming competition in less than a week. They’ll be here until nine or even later.” He sniffled his answer and blew his nose at some tissue.

“Sorry,” Guang-hong bowed apologetically from the nearby seats. Despite his small figure, he was carrying two keyboards on each side of his body. “We have to practice too…”

“Then what use is the music room?!” Yuri growled.

“The club’s performing as an orchestra and it’s too cramped in the music room to practice properly.” A senior explained patiently. “We have to practice in an area that’s like our competition area.”

“Boss, we need some help with the drum set!” Leo announced as he entered the theater room.

“Coming, coming.” A female violinist skipped some sets as she followed the American out. 

“Don’t mind us,” JJ grinned as he watched the ire in Yuri's eyes grow. “We’ll just wait here for your practice to end.”

* * *

“Wow!” Victor’s eyes gleamed at the calm atmosphere that the rink had. “I can’t believe I’ve never been here!”

“It’s mostly families and those from the nearby mall who come here.” Yuuri stated as he followed the other. “I sometimes help out when I have the time.”

“Do you know how to skate, Yuuri?” The silver haired teen asked as he evaluated the surroundings

“A bit.” Yuuri admitted quietly, scratching his head. “I sometimes skate when I want to try something different.”

“Do you also choreograph programs?”

“Not really.” He shrugged. “Let’s go to the counter and get our skates.”

They easily slipped through and was given their assigned skates because the lady at the counter knew Yuuri already and unsurprisingly, Victor as well. She was absolutely delighted to have a professional figure skater in the building and even had Yuuri take a picture of the two.

“You’ve never made me so happy, Yuuri!” She gushed as she pinched Victor’s cheeks. “This is the first time you’ve ever brought someone home – ”

“Home?” Victor inquired.

“This place is like a second home to him – well, it’s in par with Minako’s ballet studio which is certainly something. I’m very sure he spends more time at the skating rink and ballet studio than at home!”

“Miss Pepper!” Yuuri moaned as he tried to lead Victor away. He seemed too interested at their current conversation. “Stop!”

“I still have pictures of when he first started to skate. Hm, I think I have them in the drawer – ”

“We’ll be at the rink.” Yuuri dragged Victor away from the giggling elder.

Victor looked like he was enjoying. “Miss Pepper is a lovely woman!”

“She is but she can be very overwhelming at times.” Yuuri sighed and was surprised to see Victor staring at him. “Yes?”

“Do any of your friends know that you skate?” He asked.

“Just Phichit mostly. And two of my childhood friends who are a year above me.” Yuuri answered shyly. “It’s mostly just a hobby but it’s kind of personal so…”

“Thank you!” Victor launched himself onto the bespectacled teen and hugged him. “I’m happy that you shared something so important to me.”

“You’re overreacting!” Yuuri laughed off awkwardly but he did return the hug a bit too happily for his tastes. “Um... just don’t tell anyone about this.”

“Of course,” The Russian promised, letting go of his hold on the other. “I’ll just warm up a bit then I’ll perform for you.”

“Take your time.” Yuuri insisted. “I don’t want you to get hurt or anything.”

“Hm, I’m sure I wouldn’t mind having you nurse me back to health if something does happen.” Victor chirped. “But I’ll probably have my coach barking at me if that happens.”

“More reason to take care of yourself.” Yuuri repeated, putting on his skating shoes. Once he stood up, Victor was offering his hand to him. “I can get on the ice without help.”

“That’s true but I want you to stay close to me.” He winked.

“Ugh,” Yuuri rolled his eyes, accepting the other’s hand anyway because it made him feel giddy inside. “You’re unbelievable.”

“I do my best,” He grinned but rather than playful, it looked genuinely earnest. “For you.”

* * *

“ _Sooooo_ ,” Phichit pounced at the unsuspecting teen with a predatory look on his face. “How was practice yesterday?”

The question sounded as if the Thailander was insinuating that something inappropriate happened.

“Informative.” Yuuri answered helpfully.

“Don’t do this to me! You didn’t even answer any of my texts.” He whined as he kept poking the other. “I tried looking for you guys at the ballet studio but neither of you were there!”

“Victor wanted to show the routine himself.” Yuuri explained briefly. “So we went to an ice rink.”

“ _His_ training rink?” Phichit gawked. 

“No, just the one I work at.” He said. The other boy stopped walking and his mouth opened even wider. “What’s with that face?”

“Yuuri, sweet summer child born in November, I believe there is yet hope for you!” Phichit squealed in delight, knowing just how private Yuuri tended to be with his personal life. “Who would have thought your little ring would help you snag Victor and bloom like this?”

“Excuse me?” He sputtered, looking at his best friend in shock.

“Do you see all those students waiting at the entrance?” He points them all out as if it was necessary. They were already easy to spot with their constant glances at the entrance. “This is more or less the time when Victor arrives so wait here and act like you’re doing something!”

“What?” Phichit simply smiled.

“Good morning, Yuuri!” He turned around and saw Yuuko waving her hand at them. Takeshi nodded from beside her.

He noted that they both weren’t wearing matching rings.

Yet.

Yuuri sent an encouraging grin Takeshi’s way before greeting, “Morning Yu-chan, Takeshi.”

“You know,” Yuuko approached him with a playful glint in her eyes that made him want to shuffle away. “I heard from a kind old lady that you were busy yesterday.”

“A-a-ah, yeah, I er… went to a skating rink with a friend.” Yuuri stumbled over his words as Phichit snickered in the background.

“This friend wouldn’t happen to be Victor Nikiforov, would it?” Yuuko inquired a little bit to excitedly. Takeshi stiffened from beside her.

“Yes, it does happen to be him.” Yuuri murmured, looking away. “Why?”

“No reason!” Yuuko said happily despite her companion’s sudden stiffness. Yuuri caught her sneaking a look of triumph at the other teen actually.

‘ _Oh,’_ Yuuri inwardly sighed in relief. ‘ _She knows.’_

He would cheer them on.

“When are you going to bring him to the ballet studio?” She asked.

Yuuri bit his lip. “We planned to go later…”

“Great!” Yuuko patted his shoulder encouragingly and hugged him tightly before grabbing Takeshi’s hand. “Well, we’ll be on our way inside! I still have a few things to discuss with a teacher.”

He smiled. “Alright then. See you two around.”

Yuuri then turned to Phichit and saw him burst into laughter.

“Huh? What’s so funny?” Yuuri tilted his head in confusion.

“Nothing, nothing!” The shorter teen looked over Yuuri’s shoulder before wrapping his arm around it to steer him away. “I just confirmed something. Let’s get to class first and maybe I’ll tell you.”

Despite his curiosity over the other's sudden bouts of giggles as they walk to their room, he chooses to protect his sanity and not ask again.

Before they entered the classroom, Sara Crispino spots them and excuses Yuuri away from Phichit.

“Hey,” She starts as she led him away. “I know I bugged you a lot yesterday but I don’t mean anything bad about it. I was just teasing you.”

“Uh… okay?” Yuuri didn’t have anything better to say.

“Is someone giving you a hard time?” Sara finally asks.

He looks away. He’s wasn’t good at maintaining eye contact. “Uh – erm, well no! Other than having people bug me about the ring and Victor – not really.”

“Are you sure?” She asks again, obviously not believing him. “Someone wrote some nasty things on your table this morning – ”

“What? Did anyone see?” Yuuri panicked.

Sharp purple eyes gaze at him. “No. You know how Seung Gil’s always the first one in, right? He wiped it out before any of the other students arrived. He didn’t think that you would have wanted others to see.”

“Oh, oh – Thank goodness.” He exhaled. That was one less heart attack to worry about. “I’ll have to thank him later but how did you know?”

She laughed this time. “He glared at me as soon as I entered the room. I had to ask him to explain before he and Mickey got into a catfight over it.”

“I know we aren’t really close but promise me,” Sara grasped his hand. “That you’ll tell someone if you get any more trouble. Some of the students here aren’t very welcome to the idea that Victor might have a lover.”

“But hasn’t he had a number of relationships before?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard that he goes through them pretty quickly right?” Yuuri nodded. “I’m estimating that half the time, it’s probably Victor’s choice that they break up. But the other half? It’s the fans that break them up – by hurting Victor’s partner particularly.”

* * *

Chris pouted as he bent over and snapped his fingers. “Victor, you’re supposed to be listening to me.”

“Hm,” Victor blinked wearily, having just been snapped out of his trance. He faced the taller blond with a wide eyed look. “Come again?”

“Exactly! I did come in the – ”

“We know, Chris.” Georgi coughed into his hand as Mila failed at holding in her giggles. “We know.”

“Then – HEY, he’s not listening again!” Chris groaned when he saw that Victor was staring off into the sky once more. “I came in early today just to tell him about my escapade with the new tech head!”

“You didn’t really do much except lowkey fanboy in the background, Chris.”

“But my ability to control my urges is what makes me a good actor and the theater club’s next club president!” The blond rolled his eyes at his friends. “I’ve even been recruiting people for the backstage productions!”

“More like you dragged them in.” Mila snorted.

“I have to plan for the show early. This is important!” The blond sniffed. “I plan on jumping our musicians once their little competition’s done and I’ll even use the hype for the upcoming Battle of the Bands to get more people to watch.”

“You’re quite the businessman.” Georgi commented.

“Thank you, dear. Anyway – How do you think I’ll get this airhead,“ He pointed at Victor who was still not paying attention. “To join? He’ll just have a few cameo scenes!”

“I don’t know, get Yuuri Katsuki to join?” Mila joked. “Did you see his face this morning when some girl hugged him this morning?”

“Yes, Yuuko.” Georgi recalled, smiling to himself. “She’s very nice and helps with handling the finances and inner workings of the club. She’s the only one Plisetsky’s particularly nice to.”

“She sounds wonderful! How about you try dating her?” Mila suggested.

“I believe she has her eyes on her childhood friend already.” Georgi sighed. “I don’t want to get in between that.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Chris stood up and looked inspired all of a sudden. This was not a nice expression to see on the Swiss. “That’s a great idea.”

“Huh?”

“Yuuri Katsuki – yes, I should get him to sign up for the club!” The blond looked absolutely pleased with himself.

Victor was still not paying attention and had moved on to texting someone on his phone.

“And how are you going to convince him to act? He’s pretty shy on stage if he’s doing something that isn’t related to dancing.”

“Well… I haven’t thought that far but – “ Chris pointed at the silver haired teen who started to grin was typing quickly on his phone. “If we get Yuuri on stage then Victor will surely follow!”

“I think it’s a bit farfetched considering the two have only been hanging out for what, a day?”

Victor suddenly turned towards them with a look of pure adoration on his face.

“Look at the picture Yuuri sent me! He has a cute little toy poodle that looks like Makkachin!” He shoved the phone to their faces. “She’s a cutesy itsy baby – LOOK!”

Georgi was pretty sure that Victor did adore the poodle but he seemed more focused on the boy holding the poodle in the picture.

It was probably an act of payback that the internationally renowned athlete had latched himself to the not so recently heartbroken Georgi Popovich to talk about Yuuri Katsuki. Chris was rather aware of how close Victor was to wringing his fellow dancer’s neck for the past few weeks.

“See? I’ve never seen him so enamored with anyone else.” Chris nodded, sure of himself. “I just need to find a way to convince Yuuri to join.”

* * *

“You certainly took your time to leave.” Victor noted idly.

“I had to clean something up.” Yuuri retorted without any heat. “We’re here now, aren’t we?”

The older teen frowned but decided not to push.

The sound of children running and screaming from the studio was ominous.

“Is it normally this noisy around here?” Victor asked when he saw Yuuri’s apprehensive expression.

“For the past few weeks, yes. Although it’s a month till the recital, it’s the parents that are making the children nervous and they go all out when they get here.” Yuuri clarified as he looked at the other’s face. “Are you sure you want to come here? We can go another time when there are less people.”

“It’s fine. I want to see you perform in your home turf.” Victor beamed. “You even brought a change of clothes.”

“Well…”

“Speaking of which, I bought you a few rolls of bandages and betadine!” The silver haired teen picked out a small pouch from his bag. “I think we had a little too much fun at the rink and I saw what happened to your feet – And don’t say I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”

“Oh,” Yuuri mumbled, looking down. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome!” Victor grabbed his arm and dragged him into the building. With surprising grace and luck, they managed not to knock into any of the children or overlooking parents.

“H-hey Victor, where are you taking me?” Yuuri asked when he noticed that they were about to take another flight of stairs.

Victor smiled. “The rooms up there are for the older students, right? I’m hoping that at least some of them are empty so that you could practice there.”

“…But how did you know that?” Yuuri asked.

“I saw it on one of the papers posted.” Victor answered before they finally reached their destination and just as he said, the rooms were empty. “It’s even a lot quieter here.”

“The head of the studio made sure that the rooms were designed to keep the music in. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop students form making noise in the corridors.” Yuuri sighed. “She should be arriving soon so most of the kids downstairs will go back to practice.”

“Minako Okukawa, right? I’ve been meaning to talk to her actually.” Victor hummed as he left his bag beside the door. “You can go change first, I want to talk to her for a bit before she starts teaching.”

“Give her around five minutes or less.” Yuuri assured as the silver haired teen left. He found himself alone now.

He felt light for some reason as he walked to the changing rooms. While taking off his clothes, he gazed at the ring that brought him so much trouble for the past few days.

Yuuri wasn’t going to get rid of it anytime soon. He’s held onto it for so long that he couldn’t imagine being without it.

He remembered the one time he lost it at the start of the school year. He had been careless about the small object since last year because it would get in the way whenever he changed costumes for his competitions and recitals.

It was a miracle that he had found it again. He had experienced a near panic attack looking for the thing despite his previous indifference of its existence.

Yuuri checked himself in the mirror. He was rather fond of the blue sweater he was wearing. Partnered with a pair of black leggings and ballet shoes, he was ready to go.

After folding his school clothes and returning them into a plastic bag, he returned to see Victor and Minako waiting for him.

“Ah, Minako-sensei!” He bowed politely. “Shouldn’t you be handling the class?”

“I will be in a little while.” She waved him off before glancing at Victor. “I heard from prince charming over here that you’ll be using a different song for the recital.”

It wasn’t a question but Yuuri felt the need to nod. “Y-yes!”

There were a few seconds of silence and Yuuri was afraid that his teacher was going to lose her temper at him for –

“Great! I told you that song you chose was horrible!” That sent an arrow to Yuuri’s already dying self-esteem. “You weren’t even really into it! I guess you were distracted with this guy, no?”

“Wait – you’re getting the wrong idea!” He blushed under the scrutinizing gaze of the brunette while Victor was simply smiling at their interaction.

Minako rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. At least you picked a pretty dancer Yuuri. I don’t know what I would have done if you suddenly showed me a man or woman who couldn’t even – ”

“Minako-sensei please stop!”

“Thank you for understanding the situation, Miss Okukawa.” Victor cut in, much to Yuuri’s relief. He didn’t know if his heart could handle the stress any longer. “I promise you that I will make sure that Yuuri will deliver a breathtaking performance in the upcoming recital.”

“I don’t doubt that.” The brunette snorted as she turned around. She was about to leave when she turned her head to grin at Victor. “By the way, nice ring.”

Victor smirked.

Yuuri choked.

* * *

Strangely enough, two weeks pass with generally no new school scandal to fawn about.

( _Because Yuuri’s that good at making people not worry, thank you very much_ )

People still praise the floor Victor walks on, said athlete has been spending increasingly more and more time with a certain ballerina, the Society of Music got 2nd place and Yuri Plisetsky still looks like he’s going to blow a fuse.

And he totally will if his classmate won’t stop bugging him.

“But I really need your advice on my choreo! My recital’s coming up and I don’t know how to finish it!” The stupid chicken nugget had attached himself to the Russian and it looked like he wasn’t going to let go any time soon. “Pleeeeease?”

“Get off!” Yuri growled, trying to shake the other.

“I’ll only let go if you say yes!” Minami screeched into his ear.

After spending half an hour of biting his classmate’s arm, rolling around the floor and bumping into the walls, he finally gave in.

“FINE! I’ll help you with your stupid choreo so just get off of me!” The bruised chicken nugget gave a _Whoop!_ of triumph and let go.

“Here!” Minami got his phone out and played a video. “I was planning of making a medley of songs from these performances because I really admire the dancer and he’s so amazing you should watch him – ”

Yuri grumbled under his breath and sat down alongside his classmate to look at the screen.

They spent the rest of the break watching the videos.

And just like his admittedly cat-like voice, Yuri Plistesky would deny to his very grave that he already had a copy of more than half of the videos and that he had asked for a copy of the ones he didn't have. 

He didn't know what he would do if Victor found out.

* * *

‘ _I’m late!’_ Yuuri cursed repeatedly in his head as he ran back to the classroom to get his things. He and Victor had agreed to meet at the theater room this time around so that the older male could oversee the juniors.

He himself had felt guilty for keeping Victor to himself when the dance crew needed him the most so he pushed the other to help out despite his protests.

Yuuri was doing well in his routine anyway so missing a day or two of practicing would serve as a good break for him.

His lateness could be blamed on the fact that he was one of the assigned cleaners for the day and unfortunately for him, he didn’t have the steely nature of Seung Gil to stop the others from escaping their duties. And his other classmates weren’t as responsible as Phichit to actually come back after “excusing” themselves. Although his best friend wanted to help, he too had some errands to attend to.

Thus, leaving him all alone to clean up the mess his class left behind for the day.

But imagine his surprise when he finally came back to the classroom to find out that the whole room was _wrecked_.

The chairs and tables were all over the place, there were writings on the blackboard (thank goodness there weren’t any on the walls), and even the lockers that weren’t locked properly by its owners had its insides scattered in the room.

He could also see a familiar set of words written in permanent ink back on the top of his table.

He had developed a system of cleaning it off before anyone else would see. But he still didn’t know who –

That thought was unable to complete itself when Yuuri suddenly felt a shoe hit him in the back. He could somewhat process the fact that he had been kicked as he made contact with the scattered chairs on the floor.

“Ugh, that hurt…” He groaned, rubbing his aching face and reaching out for his glasses which had fallen down. Great. One of the lens was cracked. He probably looked pretty pitiful putting them back on but he wanted to take a look at the person who kicked him.

Oh.

It wasn’t just one person.

It was a group of them.

“…If you were angry at me, you didn’t have to mess up the whole classroom to tell me.” Yuuri remarked in mild annoyance. And like that time when he was with Takeshi, he immediately regretted opening his mouth as soon as the words came out.

One of the girls – a classmate of his who was supposed to be cleaning with earlier – scowled at him and threw a cup of what he hoped was iced shake towards him.

He barely managed to raise his arms up to protect his face from the incoming liquid but he was glad he did because it wasn’t iced.

It was steaming hot coffee.

Yuuri screamed when he felt the intensity of the heat on his arms and a part of his legs.

“It’s not even that hot.” One of the five scoffed. No, it wasn’t hot enough to cause any lasting damage but it didn’t stop Yuuri from wincing. “It would have been worse if that friend of yours hadn’t left so late.”

“Honestly, what were you thinking, Katsuki? Hogging Victor all to yourself?” The same girl who had thrown the liquid had a sick grin on her face. “Your stupid ring means nothing now.”

All of Yuuri’s mishaps seem to boil down to people’s obsession with the teen who he happened to admire and share rings with. How did Victor deal with this?

“It wasn’t even important in the first place!” He might have teared up a little as he lightly touched the tender skin of his arm. Yuuri cringed at the throb. “It’s just a ring.”

“Exactly!” Another student stepped forward. He remembered seeing the student around the school cafeteria. “That shouldn’t have given you the right to get close to him like that.”

He should have kept his mouth shut because he was afraid. He should have just let them say what they wanted to say and leave but fear wasn’t the only thing clouding his mind.

There was frustration as well.

“ _He_ approached me! Not the other way around.” Yuuri gritted out, feeling guarded when he saw the students shuffle around. “Take it up with him.”

“He’s not the one at fault! You just had to have the ring – ”

His arms were so red and it hurt to move them. “I’ve had the ring for much longer than he has! I minded my own business and kept to myself even when you guys messed up my table and left nasty notes in my locker. Why this?”

“The ring – ”

“I’m not going to throw it away.” He must have looked pathetic right now with his wet pants and possibly teary eyes as well. “It’s _my_ ring.”

“But you said it wasn’t important – ”

“Yeah and I mean that it shouldn’t be important to _you_. Just because I don’t care that some other guy shares the same ring as me doesn’t mean I don’t care about the ring at all!” Yuuri snapped, causing everyone else to recoil. “This is _my_ ring, not Victor’s and certainly not yours! If you really wanted his replica, you should have asked him instead.”

“ _WHY_ _YOU – ”_ The girl looked ready to throw something else at him but he was quicker.

He dodged the incoming glass cup as he stood up and found himself staring at the very people who had given him so much trouble for the past two weeks.

“Excuse me,” Yuuri mumbled, passive once more.

But not completely as he turned to snap a few pictures of them because it was something Phichit would have done and ran for his life.

* * *

It was in the cooking lab, which was slightly far from the second year classrooms, when his phone started to ring repeatedly.

After having dunk his arms in relatively cool water and checking the state of his legs, Yuuri reached for the device and answered, "Hello?"

" _Yuuri, where are you?"_ Victor's voice didn't sound accusing, much to his surprise. It was filled with concern. " _Are you alright? Are you still in the school?"_

"Yes, I'm fine and I'm still in the campus." His voice may have trembled a bit but it sounded convincing enough. "I just ran into some trouble and spilled something on my pants. I'm just cleaning up! _"_  

" _But you're not in any of the high school classrooms or lavatories."_ Victor said. " _I couldn't find you in the music room either!"_

"Huh? Wait, what?"

" _I had a friend of mine drop by your classroom earlier and she said that it looked as if your room had been hit by a tornado."_  Victor explained a little breathlessly. Had he been running around? " _Since then, I've been looking all over for you."_

"I'm sorry for worrying you." He replied apologetically. How was he supposed to explain himself?

 _"Where are you?"_  Victor asked once again. " _After seeing your classroom, I'm under the pretense that you've been beaten up and are dying somewhere in this goddamn school."_

The sudden surge of emotion from the older teen shocked him. "You're overreacting. Nothing bad happened, I promise."

" _I need to see you first."_

"Uh, well... I, uh.... I don't look that presentable right now but I'm fine! I mean it!"

" _Please."_

Yuuri stared at his phone and bit his lip. If he hung up now, Victor would still search all over the campus looking for him and maybe even get some of the dancers to search too.

"I'll meet you at the clinic." He decided. "If you happen to get there first... Can you ask for a burn salve or ointment?"

" _Yuuri..."_

"I'll explain when I get there. It's not as bad as you think." Yuuri's voice definitely trembled this time. "I'll just get my stuff from the classroom after."

" _No need. I already have your bag."_ Victor hummed, sounding less tense but just as worried. " _I was going to use it to get you to tell me where you were just in case you were going to be difficult."_

"Really?" He couldn't help but chuckle as he headed down the stairs. "You're really something, aren't you?"

" _I should be telling you that. You're the guy who had me running everywhere like a madman."_

* * *

"Mr. Katsuki, what one earth did you do to your arms?!" The nurse scolded as she gently applied the salve over his arms. Victor had stopped her from leaving just moments ago. "You're lucky that it isn't such a bad burn. Apply the ointment for the next three days and your skin should get back to normal."

"Thank you," He mumbled but hissed a bit as his the older woman continued to rub over the skin.

He and Victor shared a look as the latter wrapped his arm around his waist. Ugh, he wasn't going to be able to escape anytime soon.

"Judging by the scent of coffee all over your pants, you spilled coffee on yourself? No, then how could it have gone on your arms like that - My goodness, did someone throw it at you?" The nurse shrieked, causing the two students to flinch back.

"That wouldn't be a wrong conclusion, Mrs. Broflovski." Victor nodded solemnly, finally stepping away from the shorter male. "While looking for Yuuri, I noticed that there was a broken cup shattered in the room. Someone also messed the classroom up and wrote disdainful things on Yuuri's table."

Another look was sent towards Yuuri, making him want to shrivel away into dust.

"Honestly, children these days! I believe your homeroom teacher, Mr. Cialdini, is still in the premises. I'll just get him right now so that this may be reported immediately." The nurse stood up and stomped out. "Mr. Nikiforov, be a dear and keep Yuuri some company, would you?"

"No problem, Mrs. Broflovski." He replied pleasantly. Yuuri felt himself pale.

It was just the two of them now.

And obviously, Victor didn't feel like beating around the bush. "How long has this been going on?"

"...A couple of weeks." He answered as he swung his legs back and forth while sitting on the edge of the clinic bed.

"I suppose you didn't find it _necessary_ to inform someone about your situation." 

"They didn't do anything physical until today! I was planning on reporting them when - "

Victor's eyes narrowed. "So it's not just one person."

Yuuri's mouth snapped shut.

"Who were they?" When he saw that the young student was going to protest, he raised his hand up. "No, stop right there. Yuuri - we're friends, right?"

"O-of course!" He nodded frantically.

"Oh? So you don't just think of me as the annoying creep who latches onto you to watch you dance?" Victor raised a brow at him. 

"No!" Yuuri exclaimed, jumping to his feet as he walked up to Victor to look him straight in the eye. He inwardly gulped as intense blue eyes pierced through his soul. "You're more than that! I really enjoy our time together even... even when it doesn't include dancing! I've been really hoping that you weren't planning on leaving me behind after the recital but I knew that was too good to be true! So... So I was hiding _that_ because I didn't want you to worry about something so unimportant."  _And I didn't want you to leave earlier because I couldn't handle something so simple._

 "Of course, I'm going to worry! I didn't want to push you into telling me what's been bothering you but I should have." Victor was careful as he opened his arms, asking for permission if he could hug the other. Yuuri gave a small smile and accepted the hug. "Yuuri, this shouldn't have happened at all. If I were paying more attention, you wouldn't have suffered like that."

"It's just a light burn."

"And if you were more sure of our relationship, maybe I could have helped more." Victor sighed. 

Yuuri didn't like the guilty look on the other's face.

"I saw the letters in your bag." Victor revealed. "Those weren't _just_ letters. Did you read them?"

"...Maybe." He mumbled.

"Just you wait," The taller student vowed. "I'm going to make it up to you!"

"Huh?! It's not even your fault. You don't need to do anything!"

"Ah, but from what I've read, they bothered you because they were fans of mine, no? If I weren't so selfish, I would have chosen to cut ties with you." When he saw Yuuri's expression, he immediately wanted to smack himself for his choice of words. "And I'm not going to! Not even after the recital so you're going to have to deal with me for a long time. I'll even increase my efforts."

"Efforts? Efforts in what?" He gulped.

Victor giggled and hugged the Japanese even tighter. "You'll see,"

* * *

The next morning, a series of sticky notes of different shapes, sizes and colors were stuck all over his table and chair. 

"Uh..." He turned to see Sara waving her hand at him with a sticky note of her own in her hand. 

"Everyone heard about what happened yesterday - _don't look so surprised, Mila Babicheva tweeted the whole story with pictures of the perpetrators yesterday -_ And I happened to see Victor stick a few of the bigger notes on your table this morning. Don't tell Seung Gil but I also saw him write on the panda shaped sticky notes. Most of these are anonymous but just saying, mine are ribbon shaped!" 

"...How am I supposed to sit down?" He mumbled as he watched Sara stick the note on his chair. He felt incredibly touched by everyone's efforts. 

"I like Victor's courting rituals." Phichit whistled as he took out his own sticky note to join the fun. 

"What did you say, Phichit?" Yuuri blinked.

"Nothing, nothing." He sang jovially before his eyes turned a tad darker. "Still remember our talk this morning about keeping secrets?"

"Uh..." He suddenly felt a chill. "Yes?"

"Good! You better not keep something like this from me again!" Phichit pouted but the underlying threat could be heard. "It's not fair that only Victor got to deck out revenge on those assholes."

"Phichit!" Yuuri groaned, shaking his head.  

"Anyways," The Thailander whistled as he stuck a sticky note to Yuuri's chair. "So a friend of mine named Chris approached me and asked if you were interested in joining a play after the recital..."

Yuuri tilted his head. "Eh?"

"I'll take that as a yes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More characters, more fun!  
> Got any high school headcanons about these dorky skaters? comment, message me or send me an ask on paradise-runner.tumblr.com  
> I primarily need this because I don't know wtf I should do with Emil and Otabek.
> 
> Honestly, the chapter had a touch more drama than I expected but I just needed to get the more extreme haters there first. So I'm playing around with character interactions again and it's fun :) Victor and Yuuri are still rolling down a bumpy road but it's them so they'll be fine. probably.
> 
> Thank you lots for reading! See you in the next chapter NEXT YEAR 2017


	3. Ring Me Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Lots of planning for the future  
> 2\. Yuri was duped  
> 3\. Minako drops a bomb  
> 4\. Otabek makes an appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry this was late! My life has lessened its gruel for the next few months so hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch more with this fic :)
> 
> it's only a little more than 6k words sorry :(  
> (i just watched la la land help me)

**Chapter 3**

“Leg higher,” Victor pointed out. Leaning on the bars of the ballet studio, he was dressed in his training clothes. He had another hour or so before he would be picked up. “Don’t drag your hands like that.”

“Got it.” Yuuri corrected himself easily, checking his reflection in a split second before continuing. Sweat was rolling of his cheeks and his loose white shirt was nearly transparent.

Victor made it a point not to notice it too much.

‘ _He’s tense.’_ The Russian frowned as he watched the other practice diligently. The moves were more mechanical than natural. The day of the recital was growing closer so it was no wonder that the other was stressed.

A thought hit him.

Too focused on his plan, Victor didn’t notice Yuuri sending him a worried gaze. It also had a mix of trepidation and confusion. Much to his dismay, he wasn’t at his best form today and he could see that the other had taken too much time out of his schedule to assist Yuuri.

It wasn’t even Victor’s obligation to help him out to this degree.

“We can stop now,” The silver haired teen announced.

“No!” Yuuri yelled, shocking both himself and Victor. He blushed at his sudden outburst but continued dancing through the motions as he talked. “Uh – I mean, you can go. You still have training, right? You can leave me.”

“Oh,” Victor blinked. He would have preferred to stay with the ballet dancer.

“Yeah.” Yuuri nodded his head frantically, nearly tripping over his feet but not quite. He gracefully twisted his body and ended his ad lib. “It’s okay. I can handle it.”

Victor was about to protest but was interrupted when the scent of perfume hit him as an arm swung around his shoulders.

“No need to worry, Victor.” Minako hummed, patting the other’s cheek fondly. It was hard to believe that she was decades older than she looked. “I’ll take good care of Yuuri. But I do have to admit, you have a good eye for ballet… For a skater.”

Victor chuckled (he felt that there was an underlying jab in those words) but there was still concern lingering in his eyes.

“It’s alright.” Yuuri repeated, grabbing the junior’s school bag. He shyly pushed it towards Victor’s chest. “I’ll be fine with just Minako-sensei.”

The older brunette waved the Russian off and hustled him out of the studio. “Go on, shoo!”

“Oh – uh,” Victor gazed one last time at Yuuri whose lips quirked up at their antics.

He finally relented and waved back before walking down the staircase.

“Um,” Yuuri’s head poked out of the door, causing Victor to look up. “There’s going to be a grand rally, right?”

“Yeah,” Victor nodded slowly. “At the end of the week.”

“That’s tomorrow, Victor.” Yuuri pointed out.

Right. _It was Friday tomorrow_ , Victor realized.

“Is… is it okay if we practice a bit later.” Yuuri ducked his head in embarrassment, unable to look at the other. “And watch it together?”

His heart may have stopped beating.

“Y-Yes!” Victor agreed immediately, his voice getting higher in volume. “Of course! I can’t believe I forgot about it – but yeah, yes! Let’s watch it together. I still have some stuff to bug the Junior team about, after all.”

Yuuri smiled – and he certainly had a beautiful smile, didn’t he? “Okay. See you tomorrow, then.”

“Alright.” Victor watched as Yuuri returned to practice and when he was sure the other was far away, he bent down and hugged his knees.

He ignored the insistent ringing of his phone.

At the same time, Minako was chortling at Yuuri’s bright red face.

(

_"Why are you so embarrassed?" She asked teasingly. "You've already exchanged rings, haven't you? "_

_Yuuri couldn't function properly for the next twenty minutes._

)

* * *

 “Seung Gil,” Gao pinched the bridge of his nose as he faced the sophomore who looked just as irritated at having been called. “I think we’ve focused on KPOP far too much on the features column this month.”

“Hm,” Was all the Korean said. The senior sighed at the lack of reaction from the other but he had known the blank faced student for so long that he could more or less read the slightest movement on the other’s face.

Meaning to say, Seung Gil didn’t believe him and thought that he should continue to hype that particular genre of music. He certainly had the support of many others especially on the Korean Drama segment.

Speaking of which, many students had experienced an accident with the weight lifting equipment recently.

“I would like for you to focus on the News section instead.” Gao requested, giving the other a list. Not much of a request really but he had to phrase it nicely. “Here are the clubs and people you should go to. There are many inter-school competitions being joined and we should show more support!”

Seung Gil stared.

The senior took that as the cue to continue. “I’m also assigning you a partner from the Photography club to join you during these events.”

Seung Gil glared.

 _Fuck._ Gao thought. “You don’t need to worry! I believe he’s your classmate so it’ll be easy for you guys to communicate.”

The intensity did not flicker but he finally opened his mouth –

“It’s Phichit Chulanont, isn’t it?”

“Yes?” The look on the Korean’s face made the senior flinch. “He volunteered.”

Seung Gil literally growled at him, took the list and stomped out of the club room.

Gao managed to gather his wits and yelled out, “Remember to go to the Grand Rally later! Also, help sell some tickets too!”

Silence was his only reply.

“Feisty kid.” Anya snorted from her spot on the table. She looked up from her phone and looked at the senior. “You could have given me that spot.”

“I don’t think you would be well received by our dance team.” Gao explained, remembering the talk a certain team captain had given him. And considering that the Juniors Competition was coming up soon, he didn’t want to risk it. “How about focusing on the younger kids? Grade schoolers?”

Anya scowled at him. It wasn’t pleasant to look at.

* * *

“Okay so I had this in mind – ” The Swiss started, snapping his friend out of his trance. It had been pretty funny to catch Victor staring out the window at a certain _someone_ but he needed input! That was the least he could ask from Victor after the teen had put him through hours of screaming over Yuuri Katsuki.

“Yes?” Victor blinked prettily.

“So this play isn’t a normal play – ” Chris waved his hands at Victor. “First of all, it’ll have people from different clubs. Productions people will actually come from the Visual Arts and Painting clubs, lights and sounds will be taken by the members of the Society of Music and Tech Check, recordings by the Photography club – ”

“And choreography by the dance club.” Victor drawled.

“Of course! I want this to start a unity of sorts with the rest of the school. Especially those in the artsy area.” Chris beamed. “We need some school unity between us!”

Victor looked over the script and notes. He paused.

“The dancers have a segment?”

“So do the vocalists! Of course, the drama club will carry the lines but this is an effort by all.”

“Are you saying –  “

“Everyone will have a part _on stage.”_

Victor hummed thoughtfully. “But these clubs aren’t actually required to audition for a role, right?”

“Not at all. Anyone who’s interested can join. Even those who don’t belong to those clubs can sign up but we do plan on prioritizing the club members first.” Chris explained.  “Auditions will still be held but there's still extra points for trying.”

“Oh,” The Russian said. “That’s good. I don’t feel like going on stage but I’m willing to help in productions.”

Chris simply smiled at the other and patted his friend’s shoulder understandingly.

“VICTOR!” Yuri Plisetsky yelled as he kicked the classroom door open and pointed at the team captain. “What the hell are you still doing here?! You’re supposed to help the team get ready for the grand rally!”

“Huh,” Victor pointed at himself in confusion. “That’s my job?”

“Yeah, you fucker.” Yuri fumed, just about ready to pounce at the older teen. “The grand rally’s happening this afternoon, you dipshit! How the hell are we supposed to get people to watch if the team captain himself isn’t doing anything to help set up the stage!?”

“Ehh… but I thought I gave that job to Georgi!” The silver haired teen whined. “I was planning to watch it with Yuuri – I mean the sweet and cute one that’s a lot nicer than you – “

“Fuck you too – ”

“ – he asked _me_ to.” Victor looked absolutely enamored. Chris snorted in the background while Yuri gawked at him. “Then maybe we’d able to go out after – ”

“That pig’s going to watch?!” The middle schooler croaked as if suddenly realizing what Victor had said.

“Yep! Speaking of which, maybe I should be helping out! I don’t want to disappoint my Yuuri, after all.” Victor nodded to himself and waved at his best friend. “You can tell me more about the play after the junior dance competition and Yuuri’s recital!”

“Sure, sure.” Chris chuckled. “I’ll see you at the gym, I suppose.”

“Yep! I’ll be doing the work first and leave Georgi with the rest so that I can spend the rest of the afternoon with Yuuri!” Victor winked as he grabbed the middle school student’s hand and dragged him out of the room.

Chris managed to catch onto some peaceful silence before another bugger came to take his best friend’s seat beside him.

“Hey, boss!” Phichit winked daringly, causing Chris to laugh at the ridiculous picture the younger student made. “As expected, Yuuri said no!”

“Why do you look so happy about that?” Chris commented idly.

“Don’t worry, all is not lost!” Phichit said consolingly. “I just put the idea in his head first. I’m going to build up on it later on.”

They shared a telepathic exchange of ideas.

And Chris read the others eyes easily. “Hm, I think I can help out on my end as well.”

He took out a different set of papers that he hadn’t shown to Victor.

Phichit gasped as went through each page, “This is brilliant.”

“I know.” Chris bowed his head humbly. “I know.”

* * *

“Come on, guys!” Yuuko smiled encouragingly as the middle schoolers started panicking among themselves.  “Please take a seat and let us do your make-up.”

The Junior team seemed on the edge despite knowing they were just performing for their schoolmates. Still, wearing their costumes suddenly reminded them that the date of their competition was fast approaching.

“Thanks a lot for helping out, Yuuko.” Victor said, a few minutes later. He had just finished braiding all the girls’ hair. His fingers were aching. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen them this agitated before.”

“VICTOR!” Yuri yelled out. “You haven’t fixed my hair yet!”

“Oh, let me do it!” Yuuko volunteered. She turned to her idol with a weak blush on her face. “It’s no problem! This is my job, after all.”

"You've helped me more than you realized," Victor muttered under his breath in exhaustion as he managed to miss being hit by a flying comb from his fellow Russian.

Takeshi, who had dragged himself along to keep an eye on Yuuko, fumed in the background. To give him something to do, Yuuko made him take charge on the food and drinks but he could barely keep watch on the items and on Yuuko at the same time.

Yuri seemed to calm down once the junior started chatting with him.

“Hey, Takeo!” Victor poked Takeshi out of his trance.

He scowled in annoyance. “It’s Takeshi but for you, it's Nishigori.”

“Oh, sorry.” Ugh, why did Yuuko have to like someone like Nikiforov?! He didn’t even look offended that they weren’t on a first name basis. “Nishigori, have you seen Georgi?”

The bulky male nodded.” Is he that guy sneaking looks at the audience right now?”

“Hm?” Both men turned to look at their batch mate who looked like he was trying to become one with the wall.

“Yep, that’s him. Thanks, Takeo!” He walked towards the dancer, ignoring the cries of “ _It’s Takeshi NISHIGORI!”_ from the other.

“Anya…. Oh, Anya…. She’s not there…” Georgi gurgled, falling deeper into despair. Tears were dripping from his eyes and messing up the thick make-up on his face. Damn, someone should keep Georgi away from the make-up kit when he gets like this.

Victor slapped his back unforgivingly. “Get up, Georgi.”

“No… I can’t perform without her…”

“Don’t make me call Yakov.”

“ _NOOOOOO!!!”_ Georgi stood up and started to warm up. His face looked like it had gone through a mud bath.

“By the way, please keep an eye on the rest of the team. I’ll be back in time for our segment.” Victor stated as he started to walk away. “I’m going to go find Yuuri.”

“At least you have someone to look forward to.” Georgi sniffled woefully. Mila was going to have an aneurysm once she came back from the dressing rooms and saw his face.

Yuuko giggled to herself as she finally finished Yuri’s braid. “Poor Georgi.”

“I’ll give him a taste of my foot if he messes up later.” Yuri grumbled at the pitiful sight the older dancer made. A number of his teammates were using him as a form of entertainment to shake the nerves off. The behind the scenes pictures were going to be hilarious. “And if that bitch decides to show her face in the crowd, I’ll throw my shoe at her.”

“You’re so caring, Yuri.” Yuuko hummed, patting his head. It was nice but he would never admit that. “I hope you can find someone you can bond with too.”

“Eh?” Yuri looked disgusted at the thought. He didn’t want to end up getting disappointed and grow up to be like Georgi. “I don’t need anyone to pull me down.”

“You’ll understand soon enough, Yuri.” Yuuko said, as if understanding what he was thinking. “I have this other friend who also happens to share the same name as you and he’s pretty awkward at bonding with people.”

“Are you talking about that pig?” Yuri scoffed.

“He’s been working on his weight.” Yuuko said admonishingly, pinching the other’s ear. She didn’t like it when anyone made fun of her friend like that. “And he’s really been improving ever since he and Victor started to get along.”

The blond rubbed his sore ear. “Ow…”

“I’ve also been asking if he wanted to join the dance club next year. He doesn’t even need to be on the varsity team.” Yuuko huffed. “But he’s been too shy to dance to anything but ballet in front of so many people.”

“Does he even know how to dance hip hop?” Yuri said in disbelief.

“He does.” Yuuko laughed at the face the younger student made. “He’s got a wide range of skills in terms of dancing.”

Yuri shook his head. “No way.”

“Want to bet on that?” Yuuko asked innocently.

And as expected, Yuri took the bait.

* * *

“Heeey,” Phichit had that shit eating grin on his face. “Yuuri’s here!”

Leo and Guang-hong turned their heads and were shocked to see their Japanese friend. “ _Yuuri!”_

“Hello,” The bespectacled teen greeted shyly, barely able to keep himself standing once his friend started to glomp him.

“What a surprise,” Phichit wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You don’t usually go to these kinds of stuff. Are you here for someone?”

“U-uh…” Yuuri looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Leo rolled his eyes. “Really? Then who’s that guy walking towards here?”

Yuuri followed the direction Leo was looking at and found himself staring at the team captain of the dance team who was wearing a dark costume that accentuated his stature really nicely.

“You’re drooling.” Phichit whispered to him unhelpfully.

“I’m not.” He whispered back as he brought his hand up to his mouth to check. He was very convincing.

“Yuuri, you’re here!” Victor leaped towards him with childlike excitement. They shared a quick hug (not quick enough to avoid Phichit’s camera though.) “I’m sorry but I won’t be able to stay with you during the whole program. I still have to perform and take care of the kids.”

“It’s fine.” Yuuri said, trying not to keel over the sheer attractiveness that Victor seemed to exude. The older teen’s slightly swept back hair coupled with his cool nature was making his heart beat right out of his chest. “I’ll wait here.”

“We can go out after, though.” Victor suggested. “If it’s alright with you.”

“Uh, uh… uh…” Phichit quietly pinched his arm. “Yes! Sure, let’s do that.”

“Great! I’ll call my coach to say that I’ll be missing training for today.” Victor looked ecstatic. He held Yuuri’s right hand and brought it up. “Keep your eyes on me when I perform, okay?”

The poor Japanese boy could barely think straight as he stuttered, “Y-y-yes.”

Satisfied with the answer, he gave Yuuri’s hand one last squeeze before bidding him goodbye.

“You guys,” Guang-hong chirped up. “Are so cute.”

“We’re not!” Yuuri shook his head vehemently while his two other friends nodded in agreement. “He’s just really touchy!”

“I’ve been aware of Victor Nikiforov’s existence far longer than you have Yuuri and let me tell you,” A hand suddenly gripped his shoulder sharply. He turned to his right and came face to face with the grinning face of Sara. “He’s not like that at all.”

“Sara!” Michele protested, trying to get her hand off of the other’s shoulder.

“Hey, don’t leave me!” Emil complained, following the twins from behind.

“I have been studying the fascinating being that is Victor ever since I was Grade 2.” Sara revealed, causing Michele to groan. He had grown up and seen the evolution of his sister’s crush on the older student. “I have observed his daily activities (as much as I could anyway) and I’ve watched every grand rally, concert and local competition he’s joined!”

“And by association, Michele has too.” Emil added quietly to Yuuri.

“Understandably, I was quite shocked at _that_ sudden development.” Sara sighed, pointing at the silver band of jewelry on Yuuri’s finger. “But because I like you, I’m willing to let my grade school crush go.”

“She has around three more of them anyway.” Emil disclosed.

“Five actually.” Michele muttered under his breath.

“So you must keep fighting, Yuuri!” She clasped both of her classmate’s hands in hers. Michele hissed at the sight. “I have (mostly) given up on Victor Nikiforov and will now live vicariously through you!”

“…Excuse me?” Yuuri gaped.

“That’s an honorable sacrifice,” Phichit sobbed, blowing into his handkerchief. “I promise to send you all the pictures I can get.”

“Thank you,” Sara bowed her head solemnly.

“…what?” Yuuri looked towards Leo and Guang-hong who shrugged and looked just as clueless as him despite pretending not to be moved by her speech.

“Anyway,” Emil laughed at the ballet dancer’s expression. “Are you still selling tickets for your recital?”

“Yes,” Yuuri nodded, he reached for his bag and pulled out a thick envelope. “Would you like to buy some?”

The group of freshmen bought a ticket each and Phichit even bought one for Seung Gil (“He’ll pay me back on Monday!”) before they settled down on the bleachers.

* * *

It was certainly a different experience to watch Victor perform on land with other dancers compared to watching him grace the ice with his lone presence.

In both cases, Yuuri was captivated by the movement of Victor’s body. He liked taking apart the different movements and the change of dance styles Victor was capable of. From the stiffness of his shoulders to the strides of his legs, the sophomore couldn’t help but find the other’s actions fascinating.

Yuuri didn’t normally attend these events because he was embarrassed to admit to liking this form of dancing. It was so different from what he usually did but Yuuri would secretly deviate from classical and contemporary ballet to more rouge forms of presentation such as these.

Very few people knew about it though.

‘ _Beautiful,’_ Yuuri thought in amazement, surprised to see that his unwavering gaze finally met Victor’s.

They shared a secret smile as the segment ended.

On the step above him, Sara and Phichit were whispering back and forth. They were somehow able to hear themselves despite the deafening applause coming from all over the gym.

“Did you see that? Their eyes totally met!” Sara gushed excitedly. Phichit barely managed to get the message as people started to chant Victor’s name all over the place _._ “I can’t believe they had a romantic connection like that at this kind of place.”

“Yeah, romantic isn’t really a word I would use with music like _Drop it low_ playing.” Phichit chuckled, taking that moment to get one more picture of his smitten best friend. “Their love is Disney worthy.”

“ _And… those were this year’s winning team in the Senior’s Division! Now, let’s watch and cheer for our Junior team!_ ” The students in the gym screamed as the next set of performers filled the stage.

“Victor made the choreography.” Sara said, loud enough for Yuuri to hear.

“Go Misha!” One of the students at the front screamed. There were banners being waved around by the group of friends.

Another crowd of students were louder as they shrieked, “YURI! YURI! YURI!”

They were more noticeable because of their headbands which had fake cat ears attached. Their aesthetic yet intimidating appearance also made them stand out from everyone else.

‘ _Huh…’_ Yuuri suddenly felt a chill down his spine and started looking around. It felt as if someone was glaring at him.

“You okay there, Yuuri?” Leo asked.

“Yeah…” Yuuri felt tense for some reason. “But I think someone’s staring at me… I just don’t know who.”

If the sophomore had thought of looking up on stage, he would have met the steely gaze of Yuri Plisetsky.

Once the music began, the performers jumped into a dance sequence that was impressively synchronized and well timed.

Definitely a work of Victor Nikiforov.

* * *

Similar to previous performances, the crowd gave a standing ovation for the Juniors.

The emcee then took the time to advertise that they were selling tickets and that the audience could approach any of the marshals in the gym or any performer in the upcoming competition.

Yuuri was planning on buying a ticket some other time. He was sure Victor would have an extra one on him anyway so he was in no rush.

As he stood up to leave and wait for Victor near the backstage, his attention was brought to the front where he saw a familiar blond take the mic from the emcee.

Out of curiosity, some of the students stopped to see what was going on.

It wasn’t really any of Yuuri’s business so he hummed to himself and was about to walk over to his friends when –

“ ** _Hey, Katsuki!"_**

Yuuri froze and turned to see Yuri yelling over the mic. The emcee was trying to take the mic back but his efforts were useless. “I challenge you to a dance-off!”

The students who were still gathered at the gym all stilled.

Even Phichit stopped moving.

“W-what?” Yuuri stuttered nervously. “Why?”

He obviously wasn’t heard because the younger student continued his tirade. “Prove to me that you’re as good as a dancer as they say you are – ”

“What?! NO! Who’s they – “

“He would be glad to accept your challenge!” Phichit yelled back with volume loud enough to match the mic’s. “And if he wins, _you_ have to get him a free ticket to the Junior Nationals _AND_ buy a ticket to his recital!”

“And if I win?”

“He’ll buy a ticket to the competition and give you a free ticket to his recital!” Phichit beamed as he held Yuuri’s wrist tightly, making the taller teen unable to get away. “So, what are the rules to the dance-off?”

At that moment, Yuuko took the mic from Yuri to explain the mechanics. “All types of dances will be played by our resident DJ,” She pointed towards a male with an undercut. “Otabek Altin. He helps remix the songs for the dance team and the pep squad. He’s good at what he does.”

The freshman gave them all a thumbs up as he started readying the playlist.

“This is a match between the Yuris but anyone else can join in.” Yuuko smiled sweetly.

“Wow!” Victor clapped his hands in excitement. “This seems like so much fun! I’ll be cheering you on, Yuuri!” He waved at the ballet dancer from his spot near the stage.

“Which one?” The Russian and the Japanese dancers asked.

“Competitors, please gather on the stage.” Yuuko announced.

“I didn’t even agree to this!” Yuuri cried out as he was dragged by Phichit. At some point, Chris had to help the Thailander carry the poor boy up the stage. “I can’t dance hip hop!”

“Don’t worry, Yuuri!” Victor yelled. “I’m sure you’ll do great!”

He was pushed beside the blond middle school student and found himself being targeted by one of the other’s many glares.

“You better not go easy on me, _pig.”_ Yuri growled as he took his place under a spotlight that appeared towards the right of the stage. “Or I’ll beat your ass to the ground. Your boring ballet skills aren’t going to win here.”

“ _Oooooh...”_ The students yelled out, cheering at the unexpected rivalry.

“Ouch,” Phichit flinched.

Yuuri blinked in shock before his expression shifted into something more predatory.

“We’ll see about that.” He simply said before walking towards the spot Yuuko was pointing him towards.

As Otabek readied the music, the crowd was stirring in anticipation.

“That was hot.” Victor said, all of a sudden. Chris looked at him in amusement. “Did you see his face? That – that was so sexy. How did he even do that?”

“I’ll have to admit,” Chris smirked. “Seeing Yuuri riled up certainly got my attention.”

“He’s always so soft and sweet.” The Russian continued, captivated by the Japanese. “But I like this. I really like it. I don’t think I’ll last if he slicks his hair back.”

A few meters away, Guang-hong was panicking.

“Are you sure he can do this?” Guang-hong mumbled worriedly. “He doesn’t normally dance with the grit of hip hop dancers!”

“He’ll be fine!” Leo said unconvincingly. He was sending concerned glances to their friend on stage. “He wouldn’t have accepted the challenge if he couldn’t do it, right?”

It was then they remembered that Yuuri had been struggling against all odds (Phichit and Chris) to not get on stage.

Guang-hong started to tremble.

“Phichit!” Leo turned towards their happy go lucky friend for help. “Tell Guang-hong that Yuuri’s going to be fine!”

“I actually don’t know if Yuuri can dance hip hop.” Phichit admitted, scratching the back of his head.

“Then why did you push him into this!?”

Phichit gave a peace sign. “Yuuko told me to! How am I supposed to say no to that lady?”

“Alright, everyone!” Yuuko started, gathering the crowd’s attention once more. “We will be staring our on-the-spot dance-off!”

* * *

So things went unexpectedly for everyone except Yuuko.

At one point Yuuri was just watching the young blond who shared his name dance. He was hoping that he could just stay still on stage while everyone was distracted by the other's hardcore dancing before he'd sneak out of the gym. But when the light suddenly shined upon him, his body just moved unconsciously with the beat of the rap music.

His mind felt numb and he could barely hear the cheers of the crowd as he danced. It’s been a pretty long time since he’s danced to something that wasn’t ballet related.

(In front of other people anyway)

Yuuri found himself shaking his hips in ways that he knew he would be embarrassed about once the dance-off was over. He flipped himself and even started break dancing when a familiar tune reached him.

Slide, slip – cartwheel. Turn, twerk – smile _._

(he didn’t notice but ~~Minami~~ someone fainted)

The music shifted into something more like pop music and his actions adjusted too. He may not have known the songs, but he was pretty sure a lot of the modern music sounded the same so it was no trouble making little tweaks here and there.

But really, someone (preferably Phichit) should have stopped Otabek from playing Britney Spears and Beyonce because Yuuri was moving almost obscenely.

Slowly, his senses came back to him and he realized just how hard he was panting right now. He couldn’t hear his breathing over the yells of the crowd.

“Uhm,” Yuuri blinked, a bright blush growing on his face as he looked at Yuri who was staring at him with a shaken expression. He then turned to Yuuko who was clapping for him like a proud mother. Otabek gave him two thumbs up.

He tried searching for his friends in the crowd and found Phichit, Leo and Guang-hong jumping up and down and yelling. Michele looked like he was about to experience a heart attack while Emil and Sara looked like they were going to trip with how much they were hollering.

But what struck him the most was Victor’s expression.

He had seen it enough times on his own face whenever he watched Victor dance.

* * *

“What the fuck,” Yuri repeated for the fifth time that minute. “What the fuck,”

“Don’t say it too much.” Yuuri hid face behinds his hands. God, once the adrenaline died off, the exhaustion and stress his body and mind felt from the dance-off caught up to him. “I know I screwed up!”

“Screwed up? Screwed up?!” Yuri yelled out with menacing force. He hit the taller student with his Gatorade bottle. “You didn’t just beat my ass on stage you wiped it all over the floor!”

“U-u-uh…” Yuuri wanted to die right there and then. “I’m sorry! I’m not that good at that particular genre of dance! It’s why I stick to ballet – ”

“Did you not hear a thing I said?” Yuri grabbed the collar of his shirt. “You were fucking good. Where did you learn how to dance like that?!”

“AH – Sometimes I watch videos online or ask around for extra lessons whenever I get a little bored with ballet!” Yuuri shrieked, trembling like a kitten. But much more like a pig than a kitten in Yuri’s opinion. “I like all types of dances but I get shy.”

“You definitely weren’t shy on stage a while ago!”

“It all happened so suddenly! My mind couldn’t process what was going on!” Yuuri said defensively before looking down. “…And I didn’t like what you said about ballet.”

He must have looked pitiful at that moment because a quiet mutter of “I didn’t actually mean it. You’re good at ballet.” was said.

Yuuri looked up hopefully which made Yuri cuss at him. “Don’t make me repeat that. _Ever._ ”

The sophomore nodded immediately. “Okay. Yes, um… thank you. That means a lot coming from you.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“No! Not at all!” Yuuri shook his head. “I mean, I just saw you dance your routine for the upcoming competition and I was so impressed! You have a good grip on your body and I can’t help but admire that.”

“ _Che,”_ Yuri looked away.

“YUUUURI!” Suddenly, a familiar set of arms found themselves around Yuuri. “Why didn’t you tell me you could dance like that?!”

Victor’s face was just centimeters away from his own and really, Yuuri’s heart could only take so much excitement in one day.

“Uh-uh-uh-uh…” Error. Yuuri Katsuki has rebooted.

“Yuuri?” Victor blinked as he noticed the sophomore relax into his arms. “Yuuri?”

“Great! You surprised him to death.” Yuri snorted as he watched Victor try to shake the winner of the dance-off awake.

“Noooooo, Yuuuuri!” He started to tear up dramatically as he hugged the other’s body closely. “Don’t die on me!”

“I have an idea.” Sara popped out of nowhere with Phichit and the rest of the gang with her. They had decided to go back stage to bug Yuuri.

She approached the duo and started to take off the dancer’s ring.

Victor immediately shifted Yuuri away from the girl while Yuuri came back to his senses in time to find himself clinging closer to the Russian.

The two boys looked at each other in surprise.

_Click._

“Nice.” Phichit shared a high five with Leo.

“You just got your ass kicked, Plisetsky.” Mila yelled as she entered the scene with Georgi. “You’re never going to hear the end of this from Leroy!”

“I know, _shut up._ ” Yuri grouched as he walked over to his bag, took out some bills and a ticket and shoved it to Yuuri’s chest. “Here.”

“Huh?” Yuuri stared at him in confusion.

“There’s your ticket to the Junior Nationals so you better be there.” Yuri threatened. “And there’s the money for the recital ticket.”

"He planned on buying it anyway," Mila whispered to Georgi. "He's just doing it now so that it looks like he doesn't actually want it."

“Oh,” It still took Yuuri time to process it but Phichit was a good friend and he gave the middle schooler the entrance ticket.

“I feel as if I’ve learned a lot about you today,” Victor confessed as he kept his arms around the struggling Japanese. “And I plan on learning more of course. We’re still going out later, after all.”

“Uh… well, I…” Yuuri tried to ignore the teasing grins of his friends. “I’m sweaty! I can’t go out like this.”

“I have an extra set of clothes you can change into!” Victor offered, taking the shorter male to the dressing rooms. “They’ll be a bit big on you but it’s fine!”

Yuuri blushed at the thought of wearing the other’s clothes and that short bout of distraction was enough for Victor to pull him away.

* * *

“Is this good enough?” Seung Gil asked as he presented his article to Gao.

The senior stared at the article. “It’s… it’s very thorough.”

“Yes, I recorded everything from the moment the dance-off started until the part where Nikiforov and Yuuri – ”

“Alright, I don’t need any more details on those two.” Gao pinched the bridge of his nose. “Were you able to get anything else?”

“Obviously, I wrote about the point of the whole grand rally before it became a low budget and underage version of Step-Up.” Seung Gil deadpanned as he scrolled up through the document. “The pictures are from Chulanont and they’re all in a separate file in the flashdrive. There are also videos of the performances.”

 “That’s good but what are all these extra articles?” Gao asked as he eyed the strangely titled documents.

“They’re not articles, they’re fictional stories that the girl Crispino and Chulanont have sent.” Seung Gil explained tonelessly. “I planned on deleting them but I thought of giving you a headache first.”

“Eh? What do you – ” The door slammed open and revealed the two perpetrators.

“Hello!” Sara waved cheerfully.

“Hey, Gao – Seung Gil asked us to come here and explain our stories to you.” Phichit jumped into one of the seats. “He said that you might need some convincing to publish them.”

“Good luck,” The Korean bowed as he left the senior to fend for himself

* * *

“Hey, I thought you were skipping training for today?” Victor asked as he followed Yuuri to the ballet studio.

“I asked Minako-sensei and she said she was willing to let me go for the night  but she wanted to tell us something personally.” He enlightened as they approached the entrance of the studio where the older brunette was waving at them.

“Sorry, we’re late.” Yuuri bowed apologetically once they were close enough. “There were unforeseen circumstances – ”

“Yuuri is an amazing dancer.” Victor started, making Yuuri blush. “Not just in ballet. I mean, in general. Let me repeat, he is an _amazing_ dancer.”

“I know.” Minako huffed proudly, ruffling the hair of her no. 1 student. She chose not to comment on the slightly large shirt he was wearing.

“Er, I’m sure we’re not here to talk about that…” Yuuri slapped Minako’s hand away from his hair. “What did you call us here for?”

“Oh, I just wanted to tell Victor that he won’t be allowed to step foot in this building until the recital’s over.” Minako said pleasantly. “And that he can’t watch you dance until the recital itself.”

**End of Chapter 3.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, the competitions will be in the next chapter. I really hope i can squeeze in more JJ screen time.  
> What to expect for the next chap so far: Victor and Yuuri's short withdrawal period, them being cute with each other, their friends conniving against them and some tidbits on how Victor could have possibly gotten his ring.
> 
> Edited slight: 3/6/17
> 
> (Actually, i want to know how you think Victor got his ring and any ideas you might have about the fic in general. Send me an ask or a message on paradise-runner.tumblr.com or comment your ideas below!)

**Author's Note:**

> talk Yuri on Ice to me on paradise-runner.tumblr.com <3
> 
> Although I don't plan on focusing to much on the technicalities of the dances and like, the story's about their relationship build up, character interactions (because I love the others too) and an exploration of love and life.


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